The Fishbowl
by kiki-slasha
Summary: AU Reno/Yazoo. Yazoo is sure that his roommate Reno doesn't know much about him, doesn't know he's gay, doesn't know he has a HUGE crush on him... Things are easier to look at from the outside though. Rated M for later chapters
1. The Fish Arrives

A/N I don't own the characters, but I enjoy playing around with them a bit more than I should I suppose. This story is SLASH (hence the kikiSLASHa) or in other words, boys will be loving each other--or thinking about loving each other--or being confused about loving each other. If you don't wanna read it, don't read it. Simple.

For those of the wonderful slashy mindset like myself, please enjoy this little brainchild. Nurture it with candy and comments. I love you.

Happy reading!

~Kiki

* * *

The bowl was filled with pebbles water and a small ceramic castle. Yazoo tipped the apartment's newest tenant into his new home gently.

The small orange fish splashed his tail fin as his set to exploring his small new world. Yazoo wiped the fleck of water from his cheek.

His roommate appeared over the rim of the fishbowl from the bathroom--the towel he'd wrapped haphazardly around his waist didn't hide much.

"Oh, hey Zoo." He called out when he noticed his roommate in the kitchen. "You know where my green shirt is?"

You mean the green shirt that dips just low enough at the collar to show off you smooth chest and hugs the line of your waist?

"Uh, unless it was brought up with the rest of your laundry you threw in with mine..."

"Oh, yeah, probably." Reno smirked and stalked off to his room to retrieve it.

Yazoo turned his attention back to his fish, trying hard to resist the urge to look at the outline of Reno's ass as he walked away.    
I didn't work, it was very nice. Not that Reno even noticed that Yazoo liked him. Looked at him. Was gay.

"He's so tragically straight." Yazoo sighed, tapping the glass bowl. The fish followed his finger, kissing the inside of the glass as if to reassure him. Yazoo smiled.

It was a stupid crush really. Reno had been his roommate after answering Yazoo's newspaper ad for another student to split rent with seven months prior. In that time, there had been sixteen different girls--seven having a return visit and only one coming back for a third time.

The man was a player, and not ashamed of it at all.

That didn't stop him from being incredibly sexy and desirable at any time of day and in all states of dress. It was completely unfair.

"Just watching though." Yazoo confided in the fish. "Kinda like how you must feel in there...right?"

The goldfish blew a bubble and went to sit in his castle. Yazoo laughed.

"Yeah, didn't really convince me either." He lifted the bowl from the counter and carried it over to his neat bookshelf.

"What should I name you?" He poked the outside of the bowl again, once more calling the goldfish to the inside of the glass.

"Hm, I could call you Turk." He laughed--but that would be silly. It was Reno's nickname with "the boys" after all. Usually the boy's night also coincided with the nights Yazoo had a lot of studying. The other boy's names were worse though--Chesty, Skimpy and Lug. Yazoo grinned.

"Hmm, Turkey...no, Maybe Chicken. I could call you Chicken." The fish offered another bubble as response. "Chicken it is. A good name in a rather ironic way."

"Who are you talking to Zoo?" Reno reemerged, still looking a bit damp but now dressed in that green shirt and a pair of worn jeans.

So unfair. Yazoo thought again.

"Just my fish. I bought him today."

Reno came over for a closer look, poking at the glass and scaring the goldfish into the confines of his castle.

"Huh. I don't think he likes me." He laughed. "I don't have to do anything with him, right?"

Oh, and Reno was awfully lazy too--until things got unavoidable. Another reason why this crush was stupid.

"No, Reno." Yazoo sighed, heading back towards the kitchen to clean up from the fishbowl setup. "He's my fish, so I'll look after him."

"Cool yo." Reno followed Yazoo like an over eager puppy. The reason was obvious, "You gonna cook something for dinner or--" Yazoo couldn't help but roll his eyes but he smiled. In a strange way, his he enjoyed Reno's dependency on him. It made him feel better than all those "chicks" Reno brought home.

"Well, if you could cut up some of these for a salad--" He pointed towards some carrots and peppers. "I may be persuaded to cook up some chicken and rice."

"Now that's why I love living here." Reno exclaimed happily as he reached for a knife and showed off a little by twirling it in his hand. The sound of precision chopping made Yazoo's smile wider as he sorted out the chicken and rice.

"Hey Zoo, I'm gonna be heading out tonight again." Reno remarked casually but it caught Yazoo off guard. That meant "the boys" would come over first, play loud drinking games until after eleven and then one of them would come ask Yazoo if he could drive them to the bar--where Reno would inevitably pick up. "So you wouldn't mind doing up some extra too you know--for the boys, yeah?"

Yazoo cursed himself, even as he took out some extra chicken breasts.

"Yeah, fine."

"You don't have to study for anything tonight, do you?"

"Not particularly. I can wait till you guys leave to do my reading." The pan sizzled as he threw the chicken in, adding oil and spices.

"Hey, don't get upset. You could come with us--"   
"No, really, it's no problem Reno." Yazoo didn't want to remind the redhead that he couldn't afford to go out--scholastically or financially. "When are they coming?"

"In about half an hour." Reno plunked the vegetables in a large bowl and scooted around Yazoo to find the lettuce in the fridge. "We're gonna have a few with the game before we go." He bent down to get at the crisper and Yazoo couldn't help but peek.    
"That's fine." Yazoo snapped his attention back to his pan before Reno stood back up.

This was how things always were and Yazoo was convinced they always would be.

Reno was hot, annoying and totally oblivious and Yazoo was unsatisfied but dependable. Always used but never resentful.

It almost worked.

* * *

The night had gone as usual, Yazoo ended up driving the rowdy four to the bar and waved goodbye as he always did.

He was about to back out when Reno leaned in on his driver's window. Yazoo rolled it down.

"Hey, thanks again, really. I owe you."

"It's fine Reno--"

"No, I'm serious man." Reno said, the alcohol he'd already had made it pertinent. "You should come out some time."

Yazoo smiled and nodded. Promised he would and knew that Reno wouldn't remember the day after. He watched them go in and a loud yell erupted at their entrance. He pulled the car out and went home to do his reading. He hated how predictable it all was.

The apartment was quiet when he threw his keys to the table and went over to the bookshelf.

His fish bubbled at him.

"Yeah, I'm back. Boring old me." He tapped the glass gently and the fish kissed the inside--it was almost like he was reassuring him. "Thanks Chicken." He smiled and grabbed his book--already littered with post-its and blue inked notes in the margins.

He didn't realize how late it was or how tired he'd gotten until he was woken up by loud knocking on the door.

His book had fallen to the floor and he discovered a crick in his neck from falling asleep in the chair. He checked his watch. Four twenty-three a.m. Shit. He got up stiffly, plodded to the door and checked through the peephole. Reno was slumped against it, the only distinguishing feature his shocking red hair.

"You're home early." Yazoo said dryly as he opened the door. Reno fell inside and burst out laughing. "You didn't bring anyone home with you, did you?"

"Oh man Zoo, there was this one chick. She was all over this shit yo." He picked his way along the wall to collapse in the chair in the livingroom. 'Shoulda' seen the ass on this girl..." he laughed again. Yazoo crossed his arms unimpressed.

"You forgot your key."   
"Yep. She was so hot man."

"You should go to bed Reno. Goodnight." Yazoo turned to go to his own room, not really wanting to hear about his straight roommate's escapades.

"I don't think I can." Reno laughed. Yazoo stopped and sighed as he turned around.

"Right."

"Serioush--serviouss--ly." Reno closed his eyes halfway. He looked like shit. No wonder the "chick" didn't follow him home tonight.

"So is that how you ask for help?" Yazoo crossed his arms again, but could feel his resolve weaken. He never pretended to have much willpower around Reno.

"Umm, yes." Reno grinned idiotically for a moment before launching in again. "You know, Lug wash--was really funny tonight."

"Uh huh." Yazoo said, pulling one of Reno's arms over his shoulder to try to drag him from the chair.

"Yeah. He said this thing--shit..." Reno appeared deep in thought and oblivious to the fact that Yazoo was trying to move him. "Oh yeah! He said that if you were a chick; it'd be even more handy to have you around!"

Yazoo dropped his arm and the redhead burst out laughing. The sense that would have normally told him to shut up had been left, probably unconscious, at the bar. He went on.

"Cause he said for a boy--you know, if you squint--you could be a pretty hot girl, you know?"

"No Reno, I don't know." Yazoo said coldly and grabbed his book up from the floor. He should have known better than to get offended by Reno's drunken nattering, but that had stung. "You can sleep there. I'm going to bed."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Reno sprung from the chair as if his stupor could no longer hold him back. "What'd I say?"

Yazoo stared at him for a moment, unable to put it into small enough words for Reno's one working brain cell.

"You're offended by being called a girl?" Reno teased. "It's your own fault you know--long hair," he flicked the ends of Yazoo's fringe, "thin arms, thin waist; heh; tight ass." He gave Yazoo ass a light slap, and the resulting smack across his jaw was almost instantaneous. Reno recoiled, his drunken bravado shattered as he clutched at his chin.

"Wha?--"

"Don't you ever treat me like one of your fucking night conquests, understand?" Yazoo pointed finger an inch from his nose gave Reno something to focus on. "Drunk or sober, you're going to have to live with me and I won't put up with your shit towards me."

Green eyes flashing, Yazoo swirled towards his room and slammed the door.

Reno had approximately five hours to sober up before he'd be late for class.

* * *

Needless to say, five hours wasn't be enough time for Reno to wake up from the night's drinking. When Yazoo woke up at seven thirty for his own class, he considered waking his roommate from where he sprawled on the couch, but couldn't bring himself to forgive him yet.

The extra from his breakfast did get arranged on a plate, plastic wrapped and left on the counter for his roommate though. The note he left beside it would negate the nice gesture however.

_Breakfast. You're late for class you retard._

Yazoo still crunched on a piece of toast and had filled up his travel mug with coffee to head out the door. It was lucky he was a morning person or this schedule would have killed him.

He'd run a few errands after class and wasn't expecting Reno to be in the apartment when he returned. He had been assigned a huge reading complete with criticism--so he was surprised enough to drop his bookbag when a loud snore resounded through the apartment.

"Reno?" He rounded the corner of the hallway to see Reno sprawled further across the couch--face half buried in pillow and clothes and hair rumpled from his fitful sleep.

"Nice one there Turk." Yazoo said, picking up his books again and going to the kitchen for another cup of coffee. That would get Reno up.

He returned with two mugs and the plate of breakfast balanced on his arm. He didn't look very impressed.

"Reno." He said loudly, breaking the silence. He watched the Reno jump awake as he sat down across the coffee table from him.

"What? What?...What time is it?" Reno blinked, the look of surprise quickly morphing to one of dazed lethargy.

"Eleven."

"Eleven." Pause. "Oh...fuck." Reno brought his hands to cover his eyes--to block out the light. He sunk back down into the couch.

"Yep. Your class was at ten this morning, wasn't it?" Reno nodded, looking dejected. "Here. It's cold." Yazoo pushed the plate towards Reno. "And some coffee."

He took his won with him as he got up to stand by the bookshelf and feed his fish.

"Thanks Zoo." Reno said, recovering from the tragedy of missing a class relatively quickly. "You're a lifesaver." He attacked the plate of food. "I don't even know how much I had last night. What time did I get back?"   
"Late."

"And I fell asleep here? Not unusual." Reno laughed, wincing only a little at the resulting throb of his cheek. "Hey, I must have gotten in a fight last night or something." He laughed again and tested his jaw. "Something hit me pretty hard."

"Really."

Reno paused. This was unusual too. Yazoo was normally very cheerful and helpful after his benders. A bottle of aspirin, some hot greasy food, a word or encouragement...

Great, what had he done?   
"Hey Zoo, I didn't say anything to you last night, you know, anything stupid? Cause I was pretty drunk--"

"You're always pretty drunk Reno."

Oh shit, he had.

"I'm sorry." He was quick to say, although he had no recollection for what he was apologizing. "You know how I get yo--I don't mean any of it."

Yazoo rolled his eyes, his back still turned to Reno. He poked at Chicken's tank but the fish had disappeared into his castle with his fish flakes...

"You know," he started, "I don't really care what your friends think about me behind my back. I don't need to hear it. Really. I don't want to hear it."

Reno pushed the last corner of his toast around his plate, felling guilty. He couldn't remember exactly what had been said, but he knew the general agreement about Yazoo, about his mothering, his girlish figure... He'd fucked up.

"Right, sorry."

Yazoo finally turned.

"And it was me who hit you, if you were wondering. For grabbing my ass because you couldn't find a girl that was drunk enough to follow you home."

Reno opened his mouth, but couldn't make up an excuse fast enough for such a surprising fact.

"So now I'm going to the library to do my reading because it doesn't look like you're going anywhere soon and I really don't want to see you right now."

Yazoo grabbed his bag again and was gone as soon as he had grabbed a granola bar and shut the door loud enough to remind Reno that he had a headache.

And what a headache.

Not only had he spilled the beans on that inside joke, but he'd also drunkenly made fun of his roommate--at the same time lewdly making an ass of himself too.

Great.   
He poured himself off the couch and another cup of coffee.

You know, for a boy-who-was-a-bit-girly, he packed a punch.

Ow.

* * *

These large land fish were strange. Aggressive behaviour was natural, but usually after the showing of interest and flourishes for a prospective mate, the one initiating the advances did not attack the mate...

Chicken blew another bubble.

The flashier red one was male, he could tell. No other land fish he'd seen displayed the same vibrant colours, obviously he was the best choice for his demurely coloured food provider.

There was very little difference between the land fish's genders except for their colouring and the silver one was clearly displaying the more female qualities--preparing food, a nesting habitat, and the more intricate displays of mating rituals.

Chicken's little mind spun with the complexity of the land fish's mating ritual.

But then again, the silver female had shown male-like dominance and aggressiveness towards the red--perhaps she was able to switch genders if the environment called for it.

Chicken decided that must be it and swam back into his castle to gloat over the fact that the silver landfish favoured him to give him all the delicious fish flakes.


	2. The Fish Observes

A/N Yay! Chapter two! Thank you to all who reviewed the first chapter and special thanks to Rabia for the beta!

This chapter contains some more graphic parts--and Yazoo's reactions to them. And for all those yaoi fans out there, do not worry, yes, this is a yaoi story--eventually. Keep hanging on.

Loves you all! ~Kiki

* * *

Yazoo returned home tired but with the satisfaction that the massive amount of reading and much of his essay was complete. He also felt a bit better about himself having told Reno off that morning.

But he was hungry now--it had been a few hours since that granola bar.

The door hit the wall accidentally when he pushed himself through it, toting two extra books from the library.

Ooh, he didn't remember leaving the apartment smelling that nice.

"Oh, hey." Reno greeted him when he rounded the corner of the kitchen, following the smell. "I've um, cooked." The mass amounts of dishes, pots and pans attested to this. Yazoo desperately supressed a laugh.

"Well done."

"I'm not doing this so you can forgive me--it would be nice though--but I realized I probably take advantage of your giving nature more than I should." Reno smirked.

"And--?"

"And I wanted to prove that I am self sufficient reliable and...sorry."

"Well, it depends on how good your food is then." Yazoo turned, hiding the smile.

"Right." Reno looked worriedly at the pan on the stove and prodded its contents hopefully. "It's all up to you food..."

The same look crossed Reno's face as Yazoo took his first bite. Yazoo rolled his eyes and made a face.

"Awful. You're going to have to move out."

"But! Wait! I can do better--!"

"I'm kidding! Bring my plate back!" Yazoo laughed and reached for his food that had been snatched away the moment Reno suspected it had betrayed him. "It's fine. Really good."

"Okay." Reno calmed himself and tested the meal for himself. There was a moment's silence as the first hunger was satisfied.

"I am sorry."

"Forget about it Reno. Like you said, you were drunk."

"The guys think you're great though."

"Reno--"

"No, really! They love you! They're jealous their shit roommates don't look after them like you. They were just saying it would be even cooler if--"

"Reno. Stop. I get it."

"Right. Stopping."

Another moment.

"You really hit me?"

"Yep."

"I was that offensive."

"Yep."

"But you don't ever hit people."

Yazoo sighed.

"I broke my rule."

"You could have broke my nose!" Reno scoffed.

"And then you'd be even sorrier, right?" Yazoo grinned and ate another forkful. Reno grumbled.

"So I noticed you didn't wake me up this morning."

Yazoo looked indignant.

"You shouldn't have had so many drinks and passed out on the couch."

"But you usually wake me up..."

"Yeah, well I was angry."

"But you just forgave me, right?"

Damn cheeky bastard. And that was the reason Yazoo would be forever cursing himself for being attracted to the number one pain in his ass.

"Hm, for now."

"Score!" Reno jumped up. "Chesty's taking us out again tonight--no worries, weekend tomorrow, and you won't have to do anything. I'll even take my keys!" Reno was a blur from the kitchen back to the den. "So I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"...Yeah..."

"Awesome yo. Enjoy the rest of the food, gotta' go!"

The front door shut out the rest of Reno's noisy departure and it took only moments for Yazoo to realize how tactfully Reno had left him with the dishes.

Cocky, cheeky bastard.

* * *

  
Despite Reno's assurances he wouldn't hear him come in, Yazoo was again woken up in the early morning by his roommate's return.

Then there was that giggle--Reno had brought someone else home. Yazoo closed his eyes and wished he hadn't woken up. This was going to be awful.

"Ssh, you're making so much noise Reno." The girl laughed, clearly never having the 'quiet' concept explained to her either.

What sounded like a trip resulting in a small crash brought on more giggles followed by the loud 'mmming' of her being shut up with a kiss.

"Where's your room?" The girl said breathlessly after a few minutes of being thoroughly snogged. Reno chuckled--Yazoo felt a lump rise in his throat. His roommate was with a girl; he couldn't even see him--but he was still hopelessly attracted to him. If only he'd chuckle like that to him.

The girl was making the same affected noises of delight as Reno's porn tapes and there were several more thumps as they collided with things in between the den and Reno's room.

The door closed with a bang, probably kicked closed, but it did little to filter the noise through the walls.

"Ooh, oh god Reno." The girl moaned and giggled and Yazoo cursed her.

I think he knows you're enjoying yourself... He covered his head with his pillow.

"You've got one, right?"   
"Oh course doll. I'm always prepared."

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Yazoo did not want to think about this. But a horrible, tantalizing, erotic scene played behind his eyelids as he listened to the noises from Reno's room. He could imagine himself instead of her.

He really didn't want to be, but he was getting hard.

"Oh god Reno!" The girl moaned and panted, but it was the throaty laughs and too-smooth tones of Reno's short encouragements that made Yazoo's hand dip below the waistline of his jockeys.

"That's it honey. Show me what you want."

Yazoo put a hand over his mouth as he whined at Reno's words, muffled only slightly by the walls between their rooms.

"You're a dirty little bitch, aren't you?" Reno laughed and Yazoo squirmed again, his hand moving slowly and rhythmically with his fantasy.

"Fuck, Reno--ahh!--goddammit, I want you inside me."

"There's nothing I'd like more..."

Yazoo's eyes were screwed tight as his hand drifted again. Lower. He shifted to his side, his breathing heavy as he teased himself, praying not to make a noise.

The girl next door let out a sharp "aah" and there were murmurs of calm encouragement before a slow pulse could be heard from the bed.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Yazoo's brain chimed with every stroke, every perverse thrill sent up his spine. Their rhythms synchoronized and accelerated. As the girl and Reno got louder, Yazoo turned his face into the pillow, burying his exhalations lest he cry out.

It could be Reno here with him.

It almost was.

It was.

_Fuck._

Yazoo felt the bright heat explode behind his eyes from his frantic strokes and wished that it didn't have to be the thought of him that brought him to such an intense end. But it always did.

The coupling next door didn't last much longer thankfully, but the girl screamed out loudly as she came, reminding Yazoo who Reno really wanted. The room quieted again, leaving Yazoo feeling sticky and alone.

As usual.

* * *

  
Yazoo woke up early the next morning. Habit from having early classes. This morning, however, he tried to turn over and fall back asleep. The only really safe haven in the apartment was underneath the blankets. Like everything else in life though, morning refused to be put off until later.

Yazoo pulled himself out of bed, still feeling a little guilty about the night before, and tried to wash that away in the shower. He felt much better after that and went back to his room to put on his armour for the day--a favourite pair of fading jeans and a band T-shirt.

He knew it would be a while before Reno stirred, so he had time to finish up his essay over a cup of coffee, feed his fish and start to dig out omelette ingredients before he heard the first noises from his roommate's room. He ignored them for the time being and went about making breakfast, humming to himself as the sausages began to sizzle and he twirled the spatula in his hand.

He finally heard the open-and-closing routine of Reno's bedroom and bathroom doors. Apparently he was up now. Yazoo took a deep breath and poured the eggs into the pan.

"Good morning breakfast." Reno appeared beside him, boxer clad and puffy eyed. "Mmm, smells great Zoo."

"It'll be ready shortly--get your fingers out of the pan--I don't know if your friend wants some too." Reno obviously didn't catch the ironic tone. He was too busy nursing his fingers from where Yazoo had smacked them with the spatula.

"Yeah, she'll probably." He said, sounding disinterested. "You have a good sleep?"

"Yeah."

"Hey--if you could wait to pour my omelette, I'm gonna jump in the shower before I have breakfast." He stuck his tongue out and made a face to illustrate just how great he felt. Yazoo answered the expression with one of his own: "spare me the details."

"Thank you!" Reno winked as he headed off to the bathroom. Yazoo put aside the rest of the egg and moodily tended to his pan.

"Oh." A high pitched tone of surprise from Reno's door. Yazoo was too used to it, didn't look up.

"Let me guess. He didn't say he had a roommate, right?" He checked the edge of the omelette. Almost done. "Would you like some breakfast?"

The girl approached tentatively. She was either embarrassed or--

"You're a boy, right?" Yazoo was glad he had his back to the girl to hide the eye roll. Reno had brought home another tactless one.

"Yeah," he sighed, "My name's Yazoo."

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry--I didn't mean..."

"It's fine. You hungry?"

The girl nodded, smiling thankfully. Yazoo always ended up doing this for the girls the Reno brought home. The were usually very sweet and often he would have decent conversations over breakfast with them.

"I'm Elena by the way." She said, taking her plate to the table. The conversation started out normally enough, but inevitably turned to the still showering reason they'd met.

"So how long have you known Reno?" Elena asked with a little gleam in her eye. Yazoo knew that meant trouble for her.

"We've lived together for almost eight months. We didn't know each other before that though. He answered my ad for a request for a roommate in the paper."

"Is there anything you can tell me about him?"

See? Bad news. Yazoo sighed and put his cutlery down. He hated when Reno did this to him. He was purposefully avoiding coming out.

"Elena, you seem like a very nice girl. Reno isn't a very good person when it comes to nice girls though." Elena paused.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that he'd not about to give up his "lifestyle" for anything that could mean anything important to you...he's a player. Always will be."

Elena faltered.

"But he said--" Yazoo's look stopped her mid thought. "Right, he would, wouldn't he?" She looked crestfallen for a moment before laughing bitterly. "Can't believe I fell for that again."

The girl looked crushed. Yazoo's heart went out to her--her luck with finding someone wasn't very good obviously. Mind you, you didn't find boyfriends at the places Reno went to drink.

"You've done this speech for other girls, haven't you?"

"You aren't the first, if that's what you wanted to know." Elena nodded, but had put on a brave face in spite of the new development.

"So how come a nice guy like you ends up cooking breakfast for you roommate's stands?" Yazoo shrugged, not exactly willing to give up his reason that easily.

"I like making breakfast I guess."

Elena laughed.

"Well it was very good, thank you. I should probably go though." She rose from the table and took her plate into the kitchen. Yazoo finished his breakfast while she gathered up the few things she'd brought and then followed her to the door.

"I guess you'll say bye to Reno for me too." She said, lingering by the door. Yazoo only nodded. "Hey, thanks again by the way." She drew a nail along the doorframe, as if considering something. "Maybe I...can call you sometime?"

Yazoo paused--this hadn't happened before. He heard the shower stop in the bathroom and knew he wouldn't have much time. He stepped out into the hallway with Elena, holding the door closed behind him.

"Elena, really, I'm flattered..." he started.

"But--what? You can't take his cast offs right?" She sighed.

"It's not that, really. I think you'd be great to get to know but--"

"But what? I'm too nice?"

"Elena," Yazoo sighed, "I'm gay."

She looked stunned for a moment.

"I really am an idiot--" she stammered "I'm sorry. I--"

"It's fine, really. No one knows. I'm not that comfortable with people knowing..."

"So Reno--"

"Doesn't know, no." Yazoo grimaced. Elena hesitated for a moment.

"Well, do you think I can call you anyway? For a coffee and a talk sometime?"

Yazoo smiled.

"Yeah, that'd be great."

Elena smiled back and shouldered her purse. She started down the hallway then paused.

"You know, we probably have a lot in common..."

Yazoo thought about that for a moment while he watched her turn at the end of the hall towards the elevators.

Hm. She was probably one of the smartest girls Reno had brought home.

Yazoo went back into the apartment to finish cooking and mull over his newly acquired friend.

* * *

"Hey Zoo," Reno said through the last forkful of his breakfast, "what did she say to you?"

"Who, Elena?" Yazoo asked, pausing from washing his dishes.

"Yeah, sure. She wasn't pissed off or anything, was she?" Yazoo turned and gave Reno a look.

"You must have said something to get her to come back here. She has every right to be upset that she's a one night stand."

"Hey, hey." Reno held up his hands, looking innocent. "I didn't do anything she didn't want, yo." Yazoo turned back with a "tch" and continued washing.

"You're mad at me." Reno realized. "Hey man, I didn't do anything."

"Reno, you treat women like shit. It's not very nice."

"I don't treat them like shit. I give them what they want--"

"Yeah, for a night!"

"Zoo, it's not my fault you can't get a girlfriend so stop taking it out on me, right?"

Yazoo stopped washing again, bracing himself on the sink. Reno was really thick sometimes. Really fucking thick.

"Elena, if you talked to her at all, is a really nice person."

Reno came over to the sink, plate in hand and slipped it into the sudsy water. He brushed up against Yazoo's side and back he was so close.

"I don't want to hurt anyone Zoo. I never tell anyone it's going to be anything different from what it is."

Yazoo froze up unintentionally, caught off guard by Reno's proximity.

"Well, you could at least come out in the morning and tell them they're a one night stand yourself. You always leave me to do that."   
"Yeah, well, that's cause you're good at it." Yazoo started to protest, but Reno interrupted. "That's not really what I mean--I mean you're better at it than I am. You have a knack of having them leave without throwing curses or plates or knives or something."

"That's because we usually share the opinion that you're a prick. Does wonders, I swear." Reno didn't look quite as amused as Yazoo at this, but Yazoo laughed anyway. "You know, you could try to actually have a normal relationship with a girl." Yazoo found himself saying. Stupid brain! That was the last thing he wanted!

"Nah, don't want that." Reno headed towards the den. Yazoo followed to the doorway, drying his hands on a dishtowel. "Don't like that whole "commitment" thing, you know? Anniversaries, birthday gifts, dinners. Whole lotta shit to remember. Maybe someday, you know, if I ever figure out how to actually hold anything useful in this brain, but now? Now's the time for fucking around!" He made a rude gesture and laughed.

Why the hell was he attractive? Reno was probably the worst person in the world to fantasize over (although Yazoo now felt a little gleam of pride thinking about how his roommate had remembered _his_ birthday and even made him a cake!).

"And hurting people just goes along with that, doesn't it?"

Reno sighed.

"Tell me truthfully Zoo, do you think any of the girls I've brought home would be a good steady relationship? They're doing the exact same thing I am at bars."

Yazoo didn't answer.

"Yeah, see? Even if they are nice, right?"

Yazoo couldn't tell Reno that wasn't quite why he didn't want him to have a girlfriend.

"Sure, Reno."

* * *

  
Chicken was confused. Another landfish had entered the habitat last night and had sported some abnormalities in the species.

The poor female was probably sick--she had tumourous lumps and odd colouring around the lips and eyes.

Definitely not as healthy as the female that fed him--but for some reason this sickly specimen had been brought in by the brightly coloured male and engaged in yet another complicated mating ritual. One Chicken had yet to see the silver landfish perform with the male.

The choice was clear, wasn't it?

But then, to add to the complications, the sickly female had emerged in the light and was then making advances at his owner. Perhaps she'd changed genders again, but no ritual like the one of the previous night was performed.

The more he saw of these creatures, the less made sense...


	3. The Fish Figures

AN: Wow, I really didn't expect this to take SO LONG to get up... so sorry _ My life has been very hectic, and although this chapter had been written shorthand for a while, I have only just now (in the TWO FREAKING MONTHS that I have no updated) found the time to type it and get it the hell up here. I will be more diligent in the future I expect.

Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed and kept me thinking about this--I do have more to type up (and a plot line to follow) but am open for any ideas from you (that maybe you'd like to see though I can't guarantee anything). Thank you thank you thank you--and enjoy the next chapter.

It has booze in it.

postnote: also, there have been some "Carrie" sightings in this chapter... my beta suggested I not use the oc I had intended for Elena's character--she has too much influence on the main characters so in the original write up of the story (on paper _) she was "Carrie" though it was intended as a fanfiction. During transcribing stage, my tired brain missed a few hence why there are still a few names unchanged... I really have to do a find/replace on that name before I publish next time... For those new to this chapter, it's been fixed--this comment means nothing.

* * *

The following week seemed to get back on track. After having missed an important lecture, Reno "knuckled down" enough to make to to every single class for the first four days of the school week. A valiant effort as far as he was concerned.

Thursday night "the boys" were coming over again, but not going out so that Reno could try to get to his "early" class the next morning. That meant the boys would probably drink, be loud and obnoxious, then pass out in the living room with the TV on. Yazoo almost preferred when they went out.

Reno had just come back in with the armload of chips, dips and salsa when the phone rang.

Yazoo licked his fingers from cooking the taco meat--nice and spicy--and ran to the phone as he heard Reno cursing with his load.

"Hello?"

"Hey, is Yazoo there?" the female voice chirped.

"Uh, speaking."

"Hey Yazoo--it's Elena. Did I call at a bad time?"

"Oh, no, no worries. Just a sec." He held the phone to his chest. "Reno, can you turn the stove off please? It's all cooked..." He lifted the receiver again, "I didn't know if you were actually going to call..."

"I said I would, right?" Elena laughed on the other end. "I guess this week has been a bit hectic though."

"Hey, it's fine. Are you in school too?"

"Teacher's college." Elena confessed. "But do you think that coffee--could you come out tonight? I know it's short notice and everything--"

"No, really. That'd be great." Yazoo was quite relieved that he had an excuse to get out of the apartment while Reno's friends were over.

"Who is it Zoo?" Reno called loudly, Yazoo just turned his back and rolled his eyes.

"Sooner the better." He smiled into the phone.

"Great." Elena continued, "I'll hop out to the Second Cup on Queen street--do you know it?"

"It's only a few blocks. I'll walk out once I'm done cooking--say, twenty minutes?"

"Sure, that's great. Sorry for the short notice again--but..." she hesitated and Yazoo suspected Elena really did need someone to talk to, "--Thanks."

"You're welcome--I'll meet you there."

"Bye."

"Bye!"

Reno was blocking the way for Yazoo to hang up the phone.

"Who are you meeting?"

Yazoo sighed. He _really_ didn't want Reno to know and therefor get the wrong impression. Even if he couldn't quite tell Reno that he was gay, he didn't need the stress of trying to pretend he was in a heterosexual relationship.

"I'm meeting up with a friend for a coffee because they've had a hard day and need someone _nice_ to talk to." True enough, at least he figured it was. Reno looked a little deflated.

"Oh. I thought you might have some secret rendezvous or something..."

"No." Yazoo rolled his eyes and got past Reno and back into the kitchen. "Everything is pretty much ready. I'm sure you can add everything together for tacos--and _please_ don't leave all the dishes for me--"

"Although, you wouldn't tell if it _was_ a _secret _rendezvous..."

"You're not listening Reno."

"Sure I am--tacos, dishes. I can deal"

"Good. I'll be back in a couple hours probably."

"Ah good, that'll be when we're just starting the games! You can join in!" Reno slapped Yazoo on the shoulder.

"Yeah, sure." Yazoo breezed out of the kitchen to grab his jacket and scarf. It was getting chilly.

"Have a good date!"

"It's _not_ a date!" Yazoo yelled, just as he closed the door, just to make sure he got the last word on the matter. This was probably going to get blown _way_ out of proportion.

* * *

Yazoo arrived at the Second Cup with plenty of time--he'd spent the brisk walk trying not to think about how much Reno was going to bother him about this and trying to keep his fingers warm by wriggling them in his pockets. He looked around, trying to find Elena's unmistakable blonde bob.

"Yazoo!" A pleased call from across the room. Yazoo smiled and pulled his jacket off before sliding into the comfortable booth across from her.

"I ordered a couple of lattes. I hope I wasn't--

'No, that's find. Perfect on a day like today really." Yazoo sensed it wasn't the time to tell her it wasn't his favourite. She did look a little stressed. "Hey, you okay?"

Elena sighed, unconsciously pulling at the fingers of her gloves.

"Is it that obvious?"

"No, I'm just very astute." Yazoo smiled and that encouraged a small from Elena as well.

"You're probably going to think that I'm desperate--have no friend or anything. You seem like you listen better than my friends anyway..." Elena went back to picking at the fingers of her gloves. There was bound to be a hole soon. "I mean, I practically just met you and I'm going to be sharing--"

"Elena, I hate to interrupt, as I _am_ a good listener," Yazoo waited until Elena's worried expression settled on him. "But you can just say whatever's bothering you. I'm not going to be upset, to judge you--partly because I do barely know you, but more because you called me. I'm not going to, well, _not_ help..."

Elena managed a grateful smile. That said enough, really.

"I have a real dilemma Yazoo..." her hands finally stilled. "I need to finish school... My trust fund can get me to the end of the year--" Yazoo was suddenly worried that she'd ask him for money. He didn't really have any to spare for himself--but then she continued. "So that's not going to be the problem. I have a job lined up afterwards even. A private academy was impressed by my third year research and offered me an aid's position. But I don't think they'd be very happy if I..." she faltered, "Showed up..."

Oh god, she was pregnant. Yazoo thought desperately what the hell he was going to say to her...

"As... the centerfold in _Corset..._" Elena whispered, turning almost fuscia. Yazoo was completely unprepared for that so it was lucky Elena wasn't quite done. She procured the magazine in question from her rucksack under the table. "They told me it was going to be a "small inset", that it probably wouldn't even show my face!" She looked at the picture in horror. "I'm never going to live this down" She put her head on the table with a sigh.

"At least it's a pretty sexy picture..." Yazoo remarked, hoping to lighten the "doom".

"Yazoo, you're gay. You can't say that." Elena's head was still on the table, her voice muffled by the pages of the magazine.

"Just because _I _don't like boobs doesn't mean that I can't appreciate fetishist aestheticism." Elena propped her chin on the table and gave Yazoo a blank stare before breaking into giggles. She sounded slightly manic. "Elena, no one is going to say anything about the. You're a starving college student who did a fully clothed photoshoot for a prestigious magazine. You're obviously hot enough to make an impression on the editors, and you will be with any male staff at this academy. But you must and will demand respect from them at the steel-supported tip of your stilettos. If they have a problem with this type of classic beauty, they wouldn't read _Corset_."

Elena took that in for a moment, her eyes looking increasingly less sad.

"Can you write that down for my so I can put that on my screensaver or something?"

Yazoo laughed.

"Sure. Now drink your latte and let's talk about some more cheerful things, okay?"

Elena sat up, folded the magazine away and sipped at her foam with a smile.

* * *

Yazoo arrived back home to a very loud sitting room. All of the "girl talk" he'd had with Elena had almost allowed him to forget that the boys were currently messing up his apartment.

"Zoo!" The chorus of voices cheered as he entered the room. "You're just in time!" Yazoo froze. Just in time...for what?

"Hey, no, you promised, remember?" Reno accused, knowing that Yazoo would probably try to avoid the group. "You said you'd be back in time for the games yo." He grinned.

"Reno, I have class early tomorrow..."

"You promised Zoo." Reno reminded.

"You never drink with us man," Skimpy chimed in, "you _always_ got class."

"Come on dude." from Lug,

"Yeah, come on." and Chesty.

Yazoo was quite outnumbered. He sighed.

"Fine. _One_ game. But I really do have class in the morning. Probably earlier than you've ever been conscious..."

"Yeah, yeah. Sit your ass down."

Yazoo huffed and plunked down beside the coffee table. The sofa was full.

"Ring of Fire everyone?" Reno grinned and rifled the deck of cards.

Twenty five minutes later, Yazoo knew he shouldn't have trusted that look in Reno's eyes. They kept assigning rounds to him with every "drink" card they picked up, and no matter how many turns he had to retaliate, he knew he was getting pretty drunk.

"King! Another rule card! Yes!" Reno announced triumphantly. It was hardly fair, he'd had two kings already to make up new rules for the game--which was currently why no one could point (Yazoo forgot this a lot) and why the syllable "no" or "know" had to be replaced by "yo" then sticking out one's tongue.

He'd also had the thumbmaster card _and_ the questionmaster card for the last five minutes. Which meant he abused both to their full extent, of course.

Fucking annoying.

"Do you yo--" tongue, "what I'm going to make it?" Reno smirked, completely content. Yazoo rolled his eyes.

"Yo." Tongue.

"Aha! The correct answer would be--"

"Fuck you questionmaster, yo!" For voices followed by four loud raspberries as they stuck out their tongues.

Dammit. Yazoo drank again with a scowl.

"New rule. Every time we take a drink, Zoo's gotta drink too."

"WHAT?!" Yazoo barely managed to swallow his last drink.

"What, can't you handle it?"

"No!" Yazoo said without thinking. The three other boys burst out laughing.

"That's a double Zoo. He asked a question again--Fuck you questionmaster, _yo!_"

"I hate you all." Yazoo muttered into the mouth of his bottle.

Things were not going any better about fifteen minutes later except that Yazoo had gotten hold of all the sevens--the game's pee cards--and was currently bargaining them off for grace periods to ignore the newest rule.

The game had slowed down although it was almost finished since Chesty, Skimpy and Lug would break into soul-searching song and fights every once and a while or have to get up for a beer and forget to come back.

"Hey Zoo, you wanna give me one of those cards?" Reno asked, trying to look sweet. Yazoo had learned his lesson.

"Fuck you," he smiled slowly, a result of the amount of alcohol, "Question. Master." He laughed and clutched the precious pee-break cards to his chest as Reno leaned to snatch at them.

"You want one?" He grinned, feeling a bit giddy. "Really want one?"

"Yes, fuck, I gotta go."

"What are you gonna do for one question master?"

"If Turk wants a card Zoo, he's gotta do a forfeit!" Skimpy chimed up from the kitchen.

"Yeah, we played this with a bunch of girls before and he had to suck their toes and... beg... and..." Chesty's face appeared around the corner of the divider to the kitchen. He was grinning evilly. He was joined by his two companions both sporting the same grin. It took Yazoo's fogged brain a second to realize what the implication was. Reno. Sucking _his _toes. Ooh, good. NO! Bad! Drunk, very drunk.

He couldn't help but flush scarlet.

"You seem to forget that I am _not_ a girl!" He sputtered, trying to hide his flush of excitement with one of anger.

"Oh, come on Zoo!" Lug chided, keeping Yazoo from leaving his seat by plunking down beside him and throwing an arm over his shoulder. "It'll be funny." It seemed that Reno hadn't quite caught on to what they were trying to make him do.

"I gotta what?" he asked, brow furrowed.

"Lick Zoo's feet." Chesty grinned, only to be cut off by Reno's wider smile. He'd asked a question. "Fuck you questionmaster." He said belatedly, taking a swallow of his beer. "And that's your forfeit if you wanna card."

Yazoo took another drink according to the rule--he'd also need it if Reno actually decided to go through with it.

"Fine yo." Reno said after a moment of careful thought.

"Wait, don't I get any say in this?!" Yazoo asked, trying to squirm out from his seat. Lug and Skimpy effectively stopped him.

"Um, no." Skimpy said, then a moment later, "Fuck--I mean yo." Both he and Yazoo drank again. "Let's see those feet Zoo."

Yazoo felt horribly outnumbered but the alcohol let him feel as if he'd protested enough for it to _look_ like he didn't want it. He swung a leg out from under the table, displaying a foot in the air, toes wiggling. Reno took it and cradled the heel in his hand.

"Fuck man--you've got awesome feet..." He observed with a smirk. Chesty, Skimpy and Lug laughed. Yazoo was left feeling a bit out of the loop. Skimpy caught his look of confusion.

"Don't be surprised if this fucker asks you to strut around in heels...now that he kn--yos." He laughed around sticking out his tongue.

"Shut up man! I do not have a foot fetish!"

This had obviously been discussed before. Yazoo flushed further. He tried to pull his foot from Reno's grasp--but it had already been decided.

"I'm not putting on heels..." Yazoo's protest melted away weakly as Reno licked along the top of his foot. Fuck that felt good... "Fuck, stop it." He wriggled again, trying to hide the shiver. "I'll give you the fucking pee card!"

Yazoo was red as Reno pulled away with a grin. The other three boys weren't sure if they should laugh or not. Drunken sniggering ensued instead.

Yazoo, however, was livid. This had been a stupid fucking game and now he felt like an idiot--they'd been able to make fun of him again. He pushed himself away from the table with a murderous look in his eyes. He threw the sevens on the table.

"I'm going to bed. You can finish your stupid game by yourselves."

"Zoo--wait!" "Aww Zoo!" "Come on man!" The chorus erupted, and Reno vaulted over the back of the couch to stand in his way to his bedroom.

"Reno move. I want to go to bed."

"Zoo, dude, chill. It's just a game."

One that Yazoo couldn't bear to play because he'd never really win, would he?

"Reno..." Yazoo sighed. "You don't get it do you?" That bewildered Reno enough for Yazoo to shoulder past him. He was persistent though, and followed Yazoo into his tidy bedroom.

"What did I do?" Reno asked, oblivious to Yazoo's desire to be alone.

"Even if you don't mean it Reno, you always seem to get the point across." Reno still looked confused, so he continued, "No matter how many times you reassure me that your friends _love _me, this kind of shit still happens. Am I just a joke to you?"

"Zoo, that's not--"

"It sure as hell feels like that! If you think it's so damn funny then you can just find somewhere else to live. Or I will. Cause I am tiered of being laughed at." Yazoo turned his back and stripped off his shirt. He threw it angrily at the hamper in the corner. He rummaged loudly through his top drawer for a shirt to sleep in and in his frustration, didn't hear Reno move closer.

A loud round of laughter from the others in the living-room made him turn--face to face with his roommate. He flushed, then pushed him back, trying to keep some distance between them.

"Can't you just go? I'm tired."

"I don't want to find another apartment..." Reno said quietly. He almost sounded sober. "I know I'm probably shit at saying things like thank you and helping out and everything cause you know--you always seem to be yelling at me about that kind of stuff..." He rambled and Yazoo folded his arms against his chest, refusing to be swayed so easily.

"Yeah, you are pretty shit at them."

"And you know, maybe my friends can't show it--they treat me and each other like shit too--that's _how_ they show it. They can act like assholes around you, cause well, they think you'd be cool with it." That didn't make much sense. Yazoo glared flatly.

"Oh great. That's great."

"You know what I mean Zoo." Reno stepped in again--Yazoo was forced to take a half-step up against his dresser.

"Sometimes I don't think I do. I mean, I have my school, my career, my fucking student loans--you have, well, _that._" He paused, the moment threatening to become "_a moment"_ not good. "You're drunk. I need to go to bed Reno."

Reno didn't seem to pay attention to the last part of that and stepped in again.

"Well maybe that's how we can get along so well." He smirked. Yazoo found he had nowhere to go and Reno was very close.

"Reno... what are you doing?" He asked, felling a little chill (and it wasn't all bad...) run down his spine. Reno froze, an innocent look appearing suddenly on his features.

"Nothing."

Yazoo glared.

"Reno..."

"Nothing! I'm talking to you!"

"Reno, I think you've forgotten that I'm a boy _again._ Can you please get your drunken ass out of my room before I'm forced to sock you again?"

"But the feet--"

"OUT!" Yazoo yelled, his voice cracked to a desperate pitch.

Only once Reno slunk (well, drunk-slunk) out of the room did Yazoo realize he was shaking.

Fuck...

* * *

Chicken had figured it out. _This _had been why there hadn't been any rituals (other than the really confusing ones) between his provider and the red male before. She hadn't been on her cycle--she seemed to be approaching her time though. Her colouring changed often in a flare of vibrant red on her face--it was a mating signal all right.

The red male had seemed to make a move too. Chicken was pleased. He wanted his provider to be happy after all--but it seemed that even his reckoning was a bit premature. The signals had crossed and he'd had to flee to the inside of his castle where the sound waves penetrated his bowl less. These land fish were _incredibly_ loud. It was like that carpet-monster that his provider controlled around the room--running it back and forth across the floor after rearranging the habitat. Chicken didn't really see the point of that--but he _was_ starting to get an idea of why his provider was playing so hard to get.

There was a whole school of males--she was testing the red male of course. Yes, he may be flashy, but he'd have to be able to give her what she wanted.

Chicken poked his head out of his castle. The rumbling sounds had diminished and the only noise now corresponded with the flickering light box opposite his bowl. As he watched the male landfish settle down to their version of sleep, he found himself looking forward to the outcome of this elaborate series of tests.

He was learning more every day...


	4. The Boys Converse

A/N Wow! Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far (holy masses of fishfans batman!)--I'm so glad that Chicken is well loved! He's the smartest goldfish ever! *hugs his little gills* Here's the July update (finally) with the ever looming plotbunnies attacking my head, I'm hoping to be a little quicker with the next one...ZA PLOT, IT THICKENS, JAH? *cackle* I hope you enjoy the newest character addition to the story...

Thank you everyone for taking the time out of your summer to read about an apartment of boys and a fish... I love you all!

* * *

Avoiding one's roommate while living in a small apartment was very difficult. Impossible, in fact. Yazoo had barely made it to class the following morning--that was after having to run the gauntlet of waking-still-drunk-or-hungover quartet in the living room.

"Zoo, that you?" Reno had called out and Yazoo locked the front door behind him and practically sprinted out of the building. He didn't go back--instead he got an inexpensive lunch option (he couldn't really tell what it was supposed to taste like) from the university cafeteria and finished off his ready there.

He lingered around the library in the afternoon, picking up a few extra references for that ever-looming thesis, sipping coffee and flipping pages half-heartedly. Yes, he was using escapism. No, he did not want to face it. Yes, that was denial, but no it wasn't unjustified fuck it.

It wasn't until he realized that he'd been re-reading the same paragraph for the last twenty minutes that Yazoo decided it might be time for him to go. He reshelved the book, turned then WHAM!

"Oh my god, I'm sorry!" He'd just spilled coffee all over the person who'd been behind him. Shit, shit, shit. Yazoo tried to wipe up the shirt with his own sleeve. "I didn't see you...oh..."

Black shoes, neat black trousers, expensive now coffee dotted black shirt and a handsome face framed by the swept back black hair and a pair of almost invisible glasses.

"Prof-professor Hojo. Oh god, I'm sorry. I really--"

"It's fine. Don't worry, black hides spills well." His professor smiled and Yazoo stopped trying to rub at his shirt with his wrists. "I guess I'm lucky you've been here a while and it had time to cool down."

"I can, um, get it dry cleaned for you..." Yazoo said sheepishly.

"No, really, it's fine." The professor looked closer. "You're in my modern genetics class, aren't you?"

"Um, that depends. Will spilling coffee on you affect my mark?"

Professor Hojo laughed, which made Yazoo feel much better.

"No. Especially not if you will agree to getting a fresh cup with me."

"Oh." Yazoo probably looked a little stunned, but he recovered quickly enough. "Sure Professor Hojo. I'm Yazoo Delta by the way."

"Ah yes!" Hojo held out his hand, "Sorry, i have so many students--"

"It's okay." Yazoo smiled and shook his teacher's hand. Although he attended class every week, his lecture alone had sixty-five people it, and that didn't count Hojo's other class as well. He was surprised he'd remembered him.

Two coffee date-not-dates in two days. Not bad for a socially starving university student.

"I seem to remember your last paper--ethics of cloning I believe." Professor Hojo waited as the cafeteria's coffee machine hummed and whirred to make his strong black. Yazoo fidgeted. "You had a very interesting take on the debate of individual identity."

"I know it's a widely controversial subject, but you yourself hail the benefits cloning could have on society in your research."

"Ah, drop hints that you've read your professor's books. Good way to get marks." Hojo smiled.

"Ah, that's not--um..."

"It's fine Delta. My research however, did not delve into the slightly theological discussion of "souls"--let alone one of a clone."

Yazoo frowned and inserted his money into the coffee machine.

"I don't think I called it that. I was trying to argue that from a less scientific view would a clone be a copy of the original person or, my point, a separate entity entitled to their own specific identity.:

"Less scientific Delta. Very hard to argue to a scientist."

"But that's what the controversy is all about. That and the use of stem cells in research--" Yazoo shook his head dismissively, "So I feel it was a valid point."

Hojo laughed.

"I know. You managed to argue it very well in your paper."

Yazoo immediately back off the defensive posture he'd taken.

"Oh, really?" He followed Hojo to a counter and sat on a stool opposite from his professor--all without spilling!

"Surprisingly enough, I don't go telling my students that their work is good if it isn't. The fact that I may hold a different opinion doesn't mean that it's the only one out there." Hojo sipped at his coffee. "I appreciate students who try to change my mind."

Yazoo blushed a little.

"Thank you Professor..."

"We're not in class Delta, you don't have to call me Professor." Hojo laughed, rolling his eyes. "In fact, don't. It makes me feel old."

"Oh, sorry."

"Good." Hojo smiled again. "And also since we're not in class, we don't have to talk about class, right?"

"Sure, um, Hojo."

"Better."

The conversation lasted as long as a lingering cup of coffee, and eventually turned back to genetics and science, but far more informally than Yazoo had though it could have.

Hojo did have some vastly different ideas of scientific ethics than he, but he also played devil's advocate very well, so Yazoo couldn't really tell.

Inevitably, the time came for Yazoo to go back to his apartment again. Damn.

"It was nice having this chat with you Delta. We should do this again sometime--without the coffee spill though."

"Yeah." Yazoo agreed sheepishly, having been reminded of his clumsiness.

"And if there's anything you ever want to run by me, just catch me after class--I'd be happy to help you out."

"Thanks Prof--I mean Hojo."

"You're learning. Good Delta." Hojo laughed and gathered his things as he got up to leave. "Have a good weekend."

"I'll try. You too."

Then there was nothing but to head home and face his roommate.

* * *

He got though the door and immediately realized that he'd made a bigger deal of the night before than Reno had. His roommate had someone over--one of the previous one night stands--and they were sitting on the couch together and looking as if they'd just stopped making out as Yazoo arrived. The TV was blaring some made-for-TV movie and Reno reached for the remote to turn it down.

"Hey Zoo--I haven't seen you all day. You remember...uhh..."

"Shandra." The girl smiled, not upset in the least that Reno didn't remember. Maybe she didn't realize it. She was back here after all.

"Yeah, it's good to see you again." Lie. The accompanying smile took some effort on Yazoo's behalf.

"You don't mind if Reno and I watch a couple of movies do you? He said it should be okay but--"

No, it's not okay. I don't want you here tonight, don't want to hear you banging the headboard against my wall with the one man who confuses the hell out of me by playing with my emotions simply by being himself and completely unaware of me, the fact that I'm gay and the fact that I like him!

Is what he wanted to say, but that wouldn't be polite, so;

"No, no, no. S'fine." He thought he caught a confused expression on Reno's face before he turned to head into his room. He didn't want to deal with this right now though.

"We'll be quiet." Shandra explained.

Yazoo shut his door behind him. He knew they wouldn't be quiet. That was the problem. The walls were too thin in this goddamned apartment. He flopped down onto his bed, astounded at how tired he felt. It wasn't like he'd really done anything today other than study. And worry. There was so much he still had to do for his thesis, but at least he'd made acquaintances with his professor. That might make things easier. And there were some events coming up at school--maybe he'd go to those so he would be able to avoid the apartment for a while...

It wasn't until Yazoo was woken up again did he realize he'd fallen asleep. He toed off his shoes as he tried to discern why he'd woken. There seemed to be low voices in the room next to his. He frowned. Oh god, not again.

He tried not to listen to the conversation, but it was difficult.

"--swear this has never happened to me before. Fuck Shandra, you should know that."

"Oh fuck off Reno." There was an accompanying squeak from the bed, "We both know why I came here tonight. If you're not up for it--"

"Hey, who's being inconsiderate now? Come on..."

"That came out wrong. It happens, sure. Whatever. If you can't do it tonight, maybe you should give me a call when you can."

"Shandra..."

"It's fine Reno. Really."

"It's not fine for me!"

Yazoo imagined Shandra was rolling her eyes.

"Yeah well, obviously you've got some stuff to sort out for yourself before fucking around--pardon the pun--with someone else, yeah?" Her tone softened, "Hey, I'm not the kind of girl to care really, or spread this around if you're worrying."

Reno mumbled something too quiet to hear.

"Chill, okay?" Shandra laughed a little, and it must have cheered Reno up a bit, "It's not the end of the world. This is probably the world telling me all the reasons why I shouldn't have slept with you in the first place."

"Oh fuck off and go already yeah?" Reno chuckled. At least they seemed to be getting along...

"Yeah. I'll let myself out. Call me if you, well, can." A soft thud on the wall may have been a thrown pillow missing her.

Yazoo sat as quietly as he could, listening as the apartment door opened and clicked shut when Shandra left. Seconds ticked by, then minutes. Perhaps Reno had fallen asleep...

He slid out of bed, his socked feet hitting the wood floor without a sound. He really needed to use the washroom--waking back up had alerted him to that. But he also didn't want to run into Reno, especially since his roommate might be embarrassed that he'd overheard.

He thought he was all clear--that is, until Reno called out to him from the kitchen on his way back to his bedroom.

"You want some tea Zoo?"

Yazoo paused. To anyone else, the question wouldn't seem strange. But to Yazoo, it was very. For one thing, Reno _never_ drank tea. He always insisted on coffee, which meant that Yazoo's herbal teas were left undisturbed in the cupboard. Secondly, Reno was awake enough to realize Yazoo was up--and also had the presence of mind to remember his manners and offer some.

Wonders never ceased. This was probably why Yazoo padded his way to the kitchen, out of curiosity, to accept the offer.

Reno was seated at the small table, one of Yazoo's brightly coloured mugs infront of him with the peppermint teabag label hanging over the side of it as it steeped.

"The kettle's still hot if you want some."

"Hm. Thanks." Yazoo pulled out another mug from the cupboard, adding hot water over his tea. He leaned up against the counter and curled his fingers around the mug. He wasn't quite sure what to say. Reno seemed to need the presence though, as he soon started talking.

"It's weird, you know?" Reno wasn't looking at him, just tapping his spoon quietly up against the side of his cup, "I'm not quite sure what I'm doing wrong..."

Yazoo hoped Reno wasn't talking about what had happened with Shandra...

"I mean, I have fun. I'm not apologizing for it either. It works for me. I'm still getting all my classes done like I need to." He paused, the tapping ceased, "But my goddamned family think that I'm gonna be a big business man--sign up for the fucking family firm just like my brother. I couldn't really give a flying fuck if the fucking business went under, you know? And I get all these phonecalls and emails from my mother with all of these plans for me once I'm done school." Reno brought a hand up to the bridge of his nose, his fingers squeezing, "They've practically decided on the house I'm moving into. So I can be close by." He picked up the spoon again. The tapping resumed.

Yazoo had never really heard much about Reno's family. The only thing he knew was that his dad was rich from a self owned company, and he had an older brother. He didn't even know their names... They'd never come to visit--though he'd had to take a few phone calls from Reno's mother when her son had been out at the bars. He sipped at his tea. Reno wasn't done.

"I don't know why I'm going along with it. It's fucking bullshit. I don't want to be stuck in a tie-and-three-piece-suit job for the rest of my life, even if it's my fucking legacy. That's not me..."

There was a long moment where Reno started thinking again, and Yazoo let the small rant sink in.

"What do you want to do?" Yazoo asked, genuinely curious.

"Pfft. You'll laugh."

"No, I won't!"

Reno looked up at Yazoo finally, looking a bit tired.

"Yeah you will, everybody does."

Yazoo didn't say anything, but his look must have convinced Reno that he wasn't going to laugh.

"I wanna go into broadcasting, you know like radio hosting or newscasting shit."

Pause.

"Hn." Yazoo didn't see why that was very funny--except if you looked at Reno's course load. Statistics training and general business. "Why don't you?"

"You joking?!" Reno laughed, "My father would probably disown me. The only reason he's paying for this is because I'm doing the classes he wants."

Yazoo felt a bit bad for all the times he'd held his own need for money and scholarships against Reno. Hell, he was taking a program he didn't even want in order to go through school.

"You see, I worked at a local station through highschool--really not a big deal. For most of the time I had to do all the boring stuff, like organizing files and checking playlists and getting the coffee... But then one of the early morning hosts had told me that if I got up early enough to get to his show, he'd let me co-host it with him. Little stuff at first, you know? But I was at the station at four thirty every morning... just to be able to do the traffic report! I mean hell, I don't think I can ever get that excited over fucking paperwork in an office. The guy said I was pretty good at it too--he let me do the show while he was on holidays for a week actually. Was the best week in my opinion." Reno smiled, dropping his gaze back down to his tea, "He was the one who gave me my tag--the Turk--Turk before work. Totally gay name, but I liked it. Gave me an identity." He laughed, his head tilting back. "But..." His smile faded, "Everytime I think I'm just gonna go home, tell my dad to go screw his fucking tuition, I get this huge _guilt_ thing of disappointing them. That I wouldn't make it. That they'd be right about it being just a really good way to screw my life up..."

"That's what families do, isn't it?" Yazoo pushed himself up off the counter to come sit across from Reno. "Make you feel guilty. That's how they get you to come visit them once you've moved out." He offered a smile and it was returned, albeit smaller. "You gotta tell them--I know you've probably been told that before--"

"No one's told me that. Cause I haven't told anyone...except when I'm drunk it seems." Reno sighed. "But I know I do."

Yazoo paused again. He was relatively sure Reno wasn't drunk now. If he was, he wouldn't have gotten out of bed to get _tea_. It also made him feel a little flattered that Reno would talk to him about it. He took another sip from his mug.

"You should do it before your business program's done...shouldn't you?"

Reno laughed.

"I'm kinda hoping something will happen before then to make it all better...that's pretty much how I got through first year." When he looked back at Yazoo, he looked a little less tired, a little brighter. "Either that or I'll just make my father pay for the whole four years _then_ tell him--make him pay the full tuition as revenge for putting me through the shittiest program ever."

Yazoo couldn't help but laugh with him. The whole concept was ridiculous.

"Thanks." Reno said after a moment. "I don't know why it's been on my mind so often lately...no one's really been around for me to talk about it."

Yazoo smiled over the rim of his mug.

"Hey, no problem."

"And...I'm sorry I woke you up again."

Yazoo was tactful enough not to say anything about Shandra, or the conversation she'd had with Reno as they finished their tea.

* * *

His owner was getting territorial. She must have scared that other female landfish off--the sickly one had left before any rituals had taken place during the night.

Territorial was good. Chicken knew instinctually that once a territory was claimed, it was as good as declaring a mated pair--though he guessed that it was a little more complicated for landfish than for himself. There seemed to be so much competition! A plethora of males and females to choose from--no wonder it was confusing! But he decided he liked the nights when just his owner and the red male were in the habitat. It was usually quieter, and he could observe them bonding.

If a goldfish could have a romantic soul, Chicken had one for sure.

Maybe they'd find themselves their own little undersea castle with a bubble-diver and a pebble garden too someday...but until then, Chicken was content to watch and try to fathom the rituals of finding a mate--taking notes for his own someday.


	5. The Boys Imbibe

A/N thanks (as always) to all my readers, and a super-special-awesome thank you to natzilla, BMIK, IA1979, Goddess of Glomps, Shu, Isabella and me, RinaluffsPokemonboys, MyraHellsing, T he Only Love For Soujiro Seta, Zexion.6, Utena-Puchiko-nyu, KairaiGensou, SuperSeme Fuuma, Doctor Faustus, Black-Luna, Chance969, Jackidy, All-Seeing-Ryoko, Costance32, DoublleL, and BananGhoul for all of their encouraging reviews since last update! (and Chicken love, one can never have enough Chicken love).

Your words are like sweet ambrosia to my little typing fingers!

In return, I hope you'll all accept this next chapter as a thank you gift!

Much love and enjoy!

* * *

The next couple of weeks passed relatively smoothly for life in the small apartment. Yazoo found that Reno was spending a little less time out--he'd still go out with the boys on weekends, but Yazoo was seeing fewer and fewer girls in the apartment when he'd come home after classes. He didn't want to bring this observation up, lest it have something to do with the conversation Reno had had with the last girl he'd had overnight...

Plus, it was nice to spend evenings a bit quieter. He'd been able to do more reading at home than he had in the past eight months, well, since Reno had moved in. He still cooked dinners, and in the past two weeks, he and Reno had had dinner together nine times--where it was just the two of them talking.

Of course, that hadn't helped Yazoo with getting rid of his crush on his roommate, in fact, it only strengthened the conviction further, and made him feel a little less stupid since Reno was turning out to be less of an asshole than he liked to portray around other people. He'd finally been able to discuss this with Elena, who was turning out to be quite a good listener herself. At first, he'd been very reluctant to tell her--she had slept with him after all...

"Come on Yazoo," She'd said, sipping at her coffee, "There must be someone you like right now. You can't be full of study and school work. Even though I had to ask at first, you are a boy." She'd laughed at Yazoo's glower at her.

"Maybe I should cut my hair and start dressing like I have no personal hygiene and buy clothes six sizes too big so people will stop saying that."

"I'm teasing Yazoo. It's refreshing to find a boy who cares about how he looks without being an asshole."

Yazoo had dropped his head to the table, mumbling.

"You make me sound so gay..."

"That's 'cause you are. You're also avoiding my question. Who is he?"

Yazoo had paused, and carefully weighed the consequences of telling her. Maybe the table would mask his response.

"...My roommate."

"What?!" Elena had yelped in surprise, causing several people in the restaurant to look their way. She smiled awkwardly at them before whispering, "Are you serious?!"

Yazoo brought his head back up to rest his chin on one hand. He nodded.

"Oh god! I'm so sorry! I didn't know!" Elena looked mortified. "I didn't mean to--you know--I didn't know at the time that you--"

"It's fine Elena. It's my own fault for falling for a straight guy." Yazoo looked depressed, despite trying to hide it.

Elena had paused, chewing at her lips.

"Well," She started, "We'll just have to make him un-straight for you. So that he'll stop deceiving innocent girls like me in bars."

Yazoo laughed. Not only at the term "un-straight" but also at the thought of Elena being an innocent.

"Yeah, whatever."

The topic had slowly diverted from that, and Yazoo felt much more comfortable having someone know...especially since he still couldn't summon the courage to tell Reno.

However, it seemed that life could just not help but throw a spanner in the works every once and a while.

Yazoo and Reno had gone grocery shopping together--something that was rarely done since Reno would often just pick up a few things at Yazoo's request or leave money for his roommate when they needed to do a big shopping trip. He would usually leave most of the food decisions to Yazoo, seeing as how the other boy knew how to cook much better than he.

"So I was talking with the boys today in class..." Reno started as Yazoo checked the vegetables off his list as he filled their cart. Yazoo had a feeling he knew where this was going, but against all common sense, allowed Reno to continue with an encouraging 'umhmm.'

"And we've decided that you are coming out with us tonight after dinner, cause it's pitcher night tonight at the bar and I'm sure you don't drink enough for it to make a huge difference--"

"Reno I can't affor--"

"That's what I'm saying, they've agreed you're cool enough to buy a few rounds for. Not being able to afford it is no excuse now."

Yazoo rolled his eyes. In the past few weeks, he had seen a refreshing change in Reno. They'd talked a lot, and Yazoo had actually had some intelligent conversations with "the boys" as well. It turned out that Reno and they did have to study once in a while too, and when alcohol wasn't present, they were very good company. Maybe he did owe it to them...He sighed. He knew from talking with Reno that he didn't really put much emphasis on the amount he spent--he chalked it up to revenge on his father for putting him through business, and he really did want to spend time with him...

"Fine, okay? But I don't really like taking handouts. I can buy my own drinks." He sulkily threw a loaf of bread into the cart.

"Oh come off it Zoo. It's not a handout. I know how hard you have to work for your money. There's no point in spending your scholarship on booze. When you're a world famous neurosurgeon, you can buy me a pitcher then, okay?"

"But I--"   
'It's settled. Excellent."

And that was how, later that evening, Yazoo was staring (or at least trying to) at his sixth pint of the night, the foam from the finished beer falling down the inside of the glass to pool at the bottom. A cheer erupted from the boys. He was matching them drink for drink--though it was clearly affecting Yazoo more than they.

"Alright! Another one!" Chesty (whose real name was Cid, Yazoo had recently discovered) cheered and poured another full pint from one of the current pitchers sitting around them. Yazoo didn't even have time to protest,though, by this point, he was feeling pretty good about how drunk he was getting. He hated to admit it, because that would mean that he regretted not doing it earlier, but he was actually having a good time. The music that pumped through the bar was a mix of classic rock and newer independent bands, and the five of them were talking and laughing about everything from favourite video games to politicians' ineptitude--or teasing Yazoo for sounding like a doctor even while drunk as soon as he started talking about school...

Yazoo took another (smaller) drink of his beer and looked around the bar. It was pretty full, and they weren't the rowdiest table here. There were plenty of people yelling, singing...oh god, there was even a bachelorette party screaming their delight after every shot...

"You see the brunette over there Zoo?" Skimpy pointed into the throng of drunken ladies wearing ridiculous pink penis antennas, "She's totally been eyeing you for the past ten minutes. You should go over..." The alcohol smiled widely and the other three at the table nodded and grinned their encouragement as well. Yazoo shook his head.

"She's not really my type."

"Oh really? Why not? She's hot..." Chesty narrowed his eyes, trying to find a flaw that Yazoo obviously could.

"Well, she's drunk, for one." Lug and Skimpy laughed loudly at this.

"You don't go to bars very often do you Zoo?" Skimpy chuckled.

"You know I don't..."

"Well, when girls look like that, they know they're drunk, and that's why they can get away with it. She's probably hoping that you'll go over and ask to do her or something."

Yazoo started laughing. Not the kind of polite laugh at a friend's joke, but the kind that starts out quietly and bubbles up from the diaphragm until you realize you can't stop--it's become automatic and you just CAN'T stop...

"What...what's so funny?"

"H-how do ha ha...how do you EVER get laid?!" Yazoo laughed. The other three were catching the infectious laughter. Obviously Skimpy did indeed have this problem.

"He doesn't." Reno grinned, joining in Yazoo's mirth. "So don't listen to a word he says."

"Oh fuck...ha ha...I have to piss..." Yazoo pushed himself up from the table holding his sides. Even in this state, the concept of going up to a girl and SAYING that. Even if he were straight--he couldn't stop laughing. In fact, he didn't stop until he had woven his way through the entire bar and pushed his way through to the restroom. But the bathroom tended to sober people up--at least enough to pee...

Fuck, he'd had a lot to drink. Yazoo leaned on the counter after he washed his hands and pressed his palm to the side of his face. He felt flushed and he looked a bit puffy. His eyes were a little unfocussed and red--which really only made them look greener. Fuck, he looked drunk.

Which apparently was funny as well, because he left the restroom chuckling--until he ran into something solid.

"Oof!" He heard a spill, a muttered curse. If had been a person! "Oh god! I'm sorry!" The very solid person turned around, a spill down the front of his shirt. He loomed over Yazoo who could only feel a little threatened at his lack of height in this situation.

"Heh...no problem."

"I can buy you a new--"

"I said it's no problem. What's your name?"

Was this normal?

"Yazoo. I didn't see you there--I just came out of the--"

"You can call me Rude."

There was little space between the introduction and the feeling of someone else's lips pressed up against his. Yazoo's eyes went wide and he tried to pull back until he felt the strong grip around his upper arms holding him--though when "Mr. No-manners" tried to sneak him some tongue, he felt another force help rip him away.

"What the fuck Rude?! Get your gay hands off him. You're such a twisted fuck!" Reno kept his hand on Yazoo's arm as he yelled at the taller man. Apparently they already knew each other.

"Go fuck yourself Reno. Yazoo and I were just getting acquainted, that's all."

"You're such a fag, molesting everyone. Geezus. I should call the cops on your homo ass. Just go to the gay bar if you want some action, there isn't anyone here who wants it!"

Reno turned his back on the finger that Rude flipped him, pulling a dazed Yazoo behind him to the calls of the bachelorette party. Fucking hens...

"Can you believe that guy?!" Reno fumed as he sat back down at the table, "What an asshole!"

Yazoo had fallen silent. Reno had said...

"Yeah--totally fucking over Zoo's chance with that brunette--"

"Oh shut the fuck up Skimpy." Chesty said, laughing.

"Reno," Yazoo said quietly. No one heard over the music and continuing complaints of Rude.

"Reno." Yazoo repeated, louder. More confident (though unfortunately, it was the alcohol).

"What?"   
"I'm gay."

Apparently, it was enough for everyone at the table to hear. It took a couple moments for mouths to close from mid-sentence.

"Wait, what?"

"I'm gay." Yazoo repeated. "No, I didn't want Rude. Thank you for getting that creep off me. But if that's really how you feel about homosexuals, I'm really not all that comfortable living with you anymore. You can stay...I'll go. Home...and pack."

Yazoo pushed himself up from his chair and walked (a little diagonally) towards the door and a taxi, leaving the other four stunned at the table.

* * *

From inside his bowl, Chicken had heard the jingle of keys at the door and swam out of his castle. His owner was home!

The lights didn't turn on--as they usually did when she arrived, but instead, he heard (a little warped from the water) what sounded like coughing, sputtering. His owner rounded the corner, her hands covering her face and she slumped onto the foor next to the sofa. Chicken watched in confusion. She wasn't sick, was she? Her shoulders drooped, her mouth turned down--and those noises!

She looked all wet around the eyes...

His owner sniffed loudly for a few moments, wiping at the wetness on her face. Chicken swam in nervous circles, wondering if she could get up--apparently she could, but not as fluidly as she usually moved. She seemed to crawl across the floor, stopping every once and a while to lean against a wall or piece of furniture before making it into her habitat and closing the door.

Chicken had been tired before, but how could he possibly sleep now?! He swam around, agitated, disturbing old fish flakes from the bottom of his pebble garden. What had happened?! Was she dying?!

The jingle of keys again alerted Chicken to the arrival of the red male. He would look after her, wouldn't he?!

The lights flicked on and the red male sat down--well, slumped--in the armchair and pulled out a strange white stick which he stuck in his mouth. He seemed hesitant to do anything with it--he brought a small flame from his fingers up to the end but did not touch the flame to it. The stick drooped and he watched the flame instead.

Go help her! She's dying!

Chicken blew bubbles impatiently. What was the red male waiting for?!

The male took the white stick from his mouth again and stuck it into a pocket. He finally got up, coming closer to Chicken's tank as the fish swam anxiously around. He poked the surface of the water, watching the fish's behaviour.

He took a couple of fish flakes and dropped them on the top of the water.

Something was seriously wrong--the male didn't feed him! Perhaps his owner was already dead! It was too late!!

Chicken swam into his castle, but only enough to hide himself. He could still watch as the red male crossed the room to his owner's door.

Oh, he could barely watch!

* * *

Yazoo's face was buried in his pillow. His breathing had evened out quite a lot, and he was dangling on the edge of sleep when there was a light knock on his door.

Oh god, it was Reno.

"What." He said dejectedly into his pillow. He knew Reno heard when the door creaked as it opened.

"Zoo...I don't care if you're gay."

"...What?"

"I don't care if you're gay. Rude's an asshole when he drinks. We've known each other for years--he was a friend when he wasn't in a bar. But he's got a serious problem. A couple years ago, I told him--straight up that if he kept on drinking the way he was, he'd lose a hell of a lot more than just a few friends. We got in a fight, and I actually spent the night in jail. My parents weren't too fucking pleased about that." Reno paused. "I don't hate homosexuals. I just have a real problem with him."

Yazoo was silent. He hadn't moved at all since Reno'd come in the room.

"Alright then." Reno scratched his head, a little unsure. "I'm guess I'll go to bed too...goodnight." He turned to leave, but before he closed the door, "Please don't move out. I really like your fish."


	6. The Boys Eat Cake

A/N: Hooo boy I didn't think I'd make this update! I am currently in the middle of a move, and packing my things in and out of boxes, tearing apart my life and shipping it 3 hours away _ BUT I did make my September update (*grumble* for this story at least...we'll see about the others) and would like to thank all of my readers for their continued support of this, me, and my darling little fish Chicken.

A special thanks to my reviewers: BMIK, RinaluffsPokemonboys, Brose, Natzilla, Jackidy, Untena-Puchiko-nyu, Chance969, All-Seeing-Ryoko, IA1969, Black-Luna, DoublleL and Kiriad for the continued love--I can FEEEEEEL the love babies!

Anyway, get on to what you all came here for. Next chapter!

* * *

Yazoo really hadn't had a good night. After Reno left him again, he didn't really have an excuse to cry himself to sleep like he'd wanted to, and he wasn't quite drunk enough still to simply pass out and forget about it. Instead, he'd fretted away most of the night, tossing around till his sheets had come off his bed and curled uselessly around him.

Waking up made him realize he had actually fallen asleep, but just not for very long.

Thank god it was a Saturday.

He persuaded himself finally to get up and make breakfast for himself. There wasn't much point to moping around in bed--he hadn't really planned to come out last night (especially with the rest of the boys there) but it had happened.

And Reno had told him he didn't want him to move.

That was a start, wasn't it?

Yazoo set his plate on the kitchen table and drew one of his dog-eared science fictions across from where he'd tossed it yesterday when Reno had suggested they go grocery shopping. It was nice sometimes to just not have to think too much about school; theory; genetics.

In fact, Yazoo stopped thinking entirely and his stomach dropped at the sound of Reno's door opening again.

"Morning." The redhead greeted, sitting down across from him, looking like he'd had the best sleep ever as he stole a piece of toast from Yazoo's plate.

"Um, morning." Yazoo hid behind his book.

"I have some stuff I gotta do today, do we need anything else while I'm out?" Reno asked around a mouthful. Yazoo was a little surprised. Reno was acting as if nothing strange had happened at all last night. He managed to peer over top of his book.

"Uh, I don't think so. We got all the groceries yesterday and--"

"Cool. If there's anything you think of though, just send me a text. It'll give me an excuse to get away from my parent's house this afternoon actually."

"You're, you're going to your parents?"

"Yeah. My grandmother's birthday today." Reno laughed. "We're all going to visit her in the home for a bit--really not looking forward to seeing anyone other than my grandmother." He dusted the crumbs from his fingers. "You up to anything today?"

"I didn't really have anything planned, no." Yazoo set the book down beside his plate, trying to get his head around how normal everything seemed. How could it be normal when he felt that his world had just turned upside down?!

"Hey!" Reno looked up as if just struck by a most brilliant idea. "You should come with me!"

"W-what?"

"Yeah, cause then my parents won't give me that whole 'and this is what you'll do with your life lecture' because I've brought someone along!"

"Bu-but I don't know your grandmoth--"

"Doesn't matter. She loves when I bring someone along--she says it makes her look popular. Don't worry, she's really sweet, she'll love you--then after the home, we can give the excuse that we have somewhere we gotta go--for like, school or something."

"Reno I--"

"Please." Reno stated, and it made Yazoo pause. Reno shook his head and ran his hand through his hair, but it didn't do much to tame the bed-head. "It would help me out a lot." Reno usually didn't ask Yazoo to do things for him, though he did a lot almost subconsciously for him. Yazoo never minded. But this was different, it was as if Reno really needed him to be there.

"Um, sure." Yazoo agreed, and Reno brightened. "Um, Reno?" Reno paused in his 'thankyouthankyou's and looked at Yazoo expectantly.

"About last night..."

'You're not moving out, right?"

"Uh, I don't think--"

"Then there's nothing to worry about." Reno shrugged and pushed himself up from his chair. "Right?"

Yazoo managed to smile at Reno before his roommate headed off for a shower, but couldn't help feeling that yes, there was a lot to worry about still--at least for him. Ugh! Why did it have to be so confusing?

* * *

Reno was still in the shower when the phone rang, so Yazoo had to dash out from his room, half dressed, to answer it.

"Hello, this is Yazoo..."

"Oh good, it's Elena. You'll never guess what I just got the invitation to. Have you checked your emails this morning?"

"Um no, I haven't. What did you get?"

"Perfect, that means no one else will have invited you yet. Hold on, I'll get it up on the screen." Yazoo heard a the sound of a keyboard in the background as Elena paused. "Here it is. 'City University is hosting a fund-raiser Hallowe'en contest to challenge CU faculty, staff and students to raise $50,000 in support of our literacy project hosted through the CU library--"

"Elena--"

"Hold on, let me finish. 'Sponsored teams of two to four will compete in a Hallowe'en costume contest hosted at the CU library through dramatic skits based around the theme of 'Society's Startling Symbioses' and encourages students and faculty alike to help raise awareness of literacy, gender roles, and social commentary. Of course, not to be a drag--the event will be licensed and after the competition, the library board rooms will be open until 4 am to host the night's festivities.' Practice safe Halowe'ening, yada yada yada. You wanna go with me?"

"I haven't even thought about a costume for this year...crap, it's only a couple of weeks away, isn't it?"

"Even better, cause I have a better idea anyway. All I need you to do is come over and try it on to see if I need to adjust it for you at all."

"Adjust what?"

Elena laughed.

"You'll see when you get here. Can you make it tomorrow?"

Yazoo glanced at his calendar.

"Uh, yeah. Sure."

"Excellent! It says that the top five groups of the contest will be featured on one of the literacy campaign web ads (probably out of costume), and the best group will get to split a $500.00 cash prize from the project sponsor. Cool eh?"

"That's if we'd win."

'Oh, don't worry Yaz, we'll win." Yazoo heard Elena's maniacal chuckle. "Anyway, sorry to bust up your morning. I needed to make sure I got to you before anyone else did--the costume idea wouldn't work as well with my other friends. What are you up to today?"

"I'm going to visit Reno's grandmother at her nursing home with him today--it's her birthday."

"Ooh, I see. Did he ask you himself?" Her tone was lyrical.

"Oh stop it Elena, it's not a date." Yazoo laughed.

"I can't think of a more romantic place than a nursing home Yaz. Just think--he might try to ravage you in the games room!"

"I never should have told you." He didn't mind, really. He knew Elena was joking--though it didn't help that he was now thinking about making out with Reno on a shuffleboard table...

"Yeah well, I'm cheering for you. You've got a heck of a lot better chance than any girl to try to get a message through Reno's thick skull."

"Huh, what does that mea--"

"Anyway, I have to get to the library, I'm tutoring today." Elena chirped, cutting off Yazoo's question. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, for sure." Yazoo smiled. "I'll call you before I leave."

"Sure thing! Bye, have fun at the nursing home!" Her tone was suggestive, and Yazoo chuckled as he hung up the phone.

* * *

"I don't even have a gift--"

"Zoo, chill. You can sign my card for her if it's really going to bug you. She's not going to expect anything from my guest, okay?" Reno laughed at him a little. Yazoo crossed his arms, looking out the passenger window of Reno's car.

"I just don't want to impose on your family..."

"My family is imposing enough on their own. You're really saving my ass by coming today." Reno turned down a side street that was well shaded by tall trees and pulled into a large parking lot outside of a beautiful old building. "This is where my grandmother lives--my parents should be here shortly, I don't see their car yet."

Yazoo stepped out of the car in awe. When Reno had said nursing home, he certainly hadn't pictured this. The old victorian house was huge! Yazoo couldn't even start to think how much the property was worth--or how much the residents had to pay to stay here.

"So, do they accept volunteers here from highschools?..." He joked, trying to laugh away the feeling of being waaaay out of his league.

"Ha, probably not, I guess it's pretty exclusive. Grandma had herself put on the waiting list when she retired--didn't move in till fifteen years later." Reno pulled his cell phone from his pocket and leaned against the car door. "Hm. My brother says they're running a bit late. You wanna go in?"

"Yeah, sure." Yazoo tucked his hands in his pockets. "Your family really is rich, isn't it?"

"Huh? Oh, I guess so." Reno flushed--not much, but it put all sorts of sexy non-grandmother thoughts in Yazoo's head. "I guess that's what makes me so lazy."

"Ha, probably, what with butlers clipping your nails for you and everything."

Reno laughed.

"We're not that rich."

The interior didn't put Yazoo at any more ease. Everything was decorated impeccably, the carpets were plush, the wood floors shining, and everything was tasteful and modern. Yazoo followed behind Reno as they checked in with the front desk attendant.

"Oh Reno, it's good to see you again!" The woman behind the desk smiled. Apparently he came here often--another thing that Yazoo just didn't know about him... "Your grandmother is in the conservatory. We had a bit of a birthday lunch for her today--I think she's gone to listen to the new albums that Jim bought for her."

"Cool, thanks yo. This is Yazoo--" He motioned with his hand, "He came with me today to meet Grandma."

"Oh lovely! It's nice to meet you Yazoo."

"Thanks, nice to meet you too..."

Reno led the way past the desk and further into the home.

"Conservatory?"

"Oh, yeah, they name all the rooms here--it's just the name for the entertainment room, you know, music, TV, there's a couple of games there too." Reno explained.

"Right." So, no shuffleboard, Yazoo laughed at the thought. Probably would be a bad place to make out anyway...

Reno poked his head through a doorway.

"Happy birthday Grandma!" He waved and and the woman sitting by the window turned.

"Oh Reno! You remembered. And you beat your parents here, I see. You always were my favourite grandchild." Her accent was a thick Irish; Yazoo hadn't known that Reno was Irish... "Is this another of your friends?"

"Oh yeah, this is Yazoo, he's my roommate. Yazoo, this is Liadan, my grandmother."

Yazoo had pictured a lovely dumpy old woman with wispy white hair--which couldn't be further from the truth. Liadan was tall, broad-shouldered and didn't look a day over fifty. Her hair was a light ash brown and she wore it in two french-braided pigtails. The records that she was in here listening to weren't the opera or oldies he'd expected either--the complicated melodies of progressive rock filtered from the speakers before Liadan turned it off.

"Ah, roommate! I've heard about you Yazoo." Liadan smiled and held out her arms for a hug. Yazoo was too polite to refuse it. "I think Reno's just lucky you can put up with him. Here, sit down--we'll talk before your parents come. I'm thinking I'll make them take me out for lunch today to that lovely, expensive little place we found last time."

"It's nice to meet you." Yazoo said as he sat on one of the loveseats--the cushions tilted when Reno sat down next to him. "Happy birthday by the way--in all honesty, I'm surprised at how young you look to be, well, here."

"Oh you're very sweet." Liadan smiled and faced Reno, "He's very sweet." She turned back, "No, I'm seventy-nine today, and still milking the birthdays for everything they're worth. They made a splendid cake today for lunch--do you like black forest? There's still some left over, I think."

"That'd be great grandma, thanks!" Reno answered for them, and after a short discussion, left to get some from the dining room, leaving Yazoo and Liadan alone for a while.

"Well Yazoo, it's a wonder Reno hasn't brought you before, with how much he talks about you."

"I didn't know he did, really. I mean, this is the first he's asked me to." Yazoo was trying not to feel awkward under Liadan's shrewd glare.

"Yes well, I know my grandson can be a bit of a hnadful--but it really is better than the rest of the family I guess." Liadan sighed. "My son really did turn into such a bore when he started up his business, I must admit." She smirked, "I'll let you decide that for yourself when you meet him, I guess. I'd hate to ruin your first impressions. You are still in school, yes?"

"Yes, I'm studying to be a doctor."

"Oh! My goodness, how wonderful! Is it something you enjoy?"

Yazoo nodded, a smile creeping onto his face.

"Very much. I'd like to be a surgeon eventually. But it takes a lot of schooling..."

"Of course, but what a noble thing! Your parents must be very proud."

"Uh, yeah."

"Yazoo, if you could do me a favour, I know it's impetuous of me to ask, but I certainly must--especially since Reno's conveniently stepped out for a moment." Liadan put a hand on Yazoo's knee. "Please help convince Reno to get out of that godawful business program. I've told him that he's getting more in my inheritance than the others--my last way to say screw you to the family--and he must not be allowed to waste it on something he doesn't want to do. Understood?"

"Uh, Liadan I--"

"He'll listen to you, really." She patted his knee and sat back in her chair. "Just say you'll try."

"Um, I'll try."

"Excellent. Oh, you found the biggest pieces!" Liadan addressed her grandson, Reno carried three large plates with equally large pieces of chocolate cake on them back into the room.

"Yeah well, I know how you like your chocolate--although it's going to kill you someday."

"The best death imaginable Reno, trust me."

Reno and Yazoo laughed, and Reno pulled the card from his pocket.

"Happy birthday Grandma." He kissed her cheek affectionately. Yazoo decided he liked Reno's grandmother very much, though she was a bit odd--she definitely brought out the best in Reno. He slid a forkful of cake into his mouth and smiled.

* * *

Yazoo very shortly after meeting Reno's parents decided he did not like them very much, however. He had been warned--by Reno, by Liadan, but he had honestly not thought that they could be very bad. Everybody had gripes about their parents...

But Howard Kilcullen was truly an asshole. It seemed like he went out of his way to humiliate his youngest son and his brother Fallon would simply stand by and soak up the fact that he was doing everything right to please his father. Yazoo could see Reno getting worn down even as they sat in the restaurant with Liadan. His shoulders were slumping and he pushed his food around his plate in between bites.

"Redmond, sit up straight. I've heard from the Dean that your program will be expanding their Macroeconomics courses next semester. I hope you've decided to take more than one like last spring term." Mr. Kilcullen looked stern, "You know you need to take six credits in it. You're not in any this term, and you won't finish your degree requirements if you don't. I won't put you through an extra year just because you didn't plan right."

"I've already signed up, I told you." Reno said despondently. Unfortunately his father caught the roll of his eyes.

"Based on your grades last term, I'd say you're lucky they haven't kicked you out yet. You better start--"

"Howard honestly. This day has nothing to do with Reno. It's my birthday and I don't want to talk about business." Liadan somehow made the word sound like a swear word. "I've told you before I want nothing to do with it. That's why I'm in a home." She smiled and looked smug. She was probably the only person around the table that could possibly talk to Howard Kilcullen that way, or at least that's what Howard's look told Yazoo.

"Mother--"   
"No, I won't hear it." Liadan turned to Yazoo, "That alfredo really is lovely, isn't it--"

"Mother, it's important that Reno knows what he's expected to do by the end of the year. The consequences of having to repeat a semester would--"

"Would what? Make him happy?"

Howard huffed.

"Mother I am not having this conversation with you here."

"Apparently you are Howard, and I am most disappointed that you of all people couldn't strive to be a little more original and interesting. I would rather talk about nice things like food, movies, music." She brightened, turning to the boys and nodding, "But then you come along with your self-raised business plans and take over any pleasant talk whatsoever. At least I have the excuse of going senile. What's yours?"

"You always do this mother, and frankly, I've had enough. I go out of my way to spend time with you--"

"It's not out of your way, the home is on your route back to your home--"

"I go out of my way," He repeated, "To spend time with you and you always seem to nick-pick apart the life that I'm trying to maintain. I've had it mother."

"Isn't that what you're doing with Reno?"

"Don't tell me how to raise my children." Howard stood, and his mother followed suit.

"Apparently. I seem not to have done a very good job. Reno, you can drive me home, I think I've eaten enough."

"Redmond still needs to talk with--"

"Howard, do shut up. My grandson is driving me home and then has important plans with his friend. He can't make it today."

Yazoo was more than thankful to leave the restaurant, Reno ushering him out quickly as they followed his grandmother.

"Reno I haven't paid--"

"Don't worry, my father will cover it. I'm pretty sure he already hates you anyway. It's the least he can do for being such a shithead."

Yazoo looked shocked, and it made it easier for Reno to push him out the door.

"God Reno, I know you said you didn't get along with your folks but--"

"Yeah, I wasn't lying. Thank god you were here. That was my dad being well behaved."

"Seriously?!"

"Yeah. He probably would have made me go back to 'talk about my future' had I not had you as an excuse."

Reno opened the door up for his Grandmother to sit in the front seat. She thanked him, and couldn't help but smile when he did the same for Yazoo in the back.

"It just means I have to avoid his phonecalls for the next two or three days, that's all." Reno grinned and shut the door.

"I glad Reno has a roommate he likes." Liadan commented, and Yazoo couldn't really get her to clarify before Reno opened up the driver's door and got in too.

"Well Grandma, pretty much the standard birthday. You still hungry, did you want to go anywhere else?"

"Ooh, we should go get a hamburger. They usually don't serve those at the home." She smiled.

"Sure thing."

Yazoo had to admit, this was turning out to be a very strange day.

* * *

When Reno and Yazoo finally got back to their apartment building it was getting dark. Liadan had challenged them to a very active game of Tivial Pursuit-and had kicked both of their asses at the game. She knew so much... They had both left slightly humbled...

Reno paused as he turned off the car.

"I know I've been saying it all day, but thanks yo. I think my Grandma had a lot of fun today."

"Judging on the way she was laughing and rubbing her hands like a tyrant the whole game, yeah, I think I got that too."

"No, I mean--she likes meeting my friends, but my friends don't always wanna come with me. She's a bit of a live wire, and I guess not too many people that I hand out with get the fact that she's pretty much the only one of my family that I enjoy spending time with. It's cool that you do."

"I don't get to see my family...you know, at all, so I guess it's nice to be able to appreciate it."

"What do you mean, like you never talk to them? Oh shit, they're not dead right--I'd feel like a total ass if they were dead, sorry"

Yazoo realised he'd never really talked with Reno about his family before.

"No, no they're not dead. My parents got deported though--they fought pretty hard to get me to stay here. They knew that I wouldn't be able to practice here as a surgeon if I studied anywhere else."

"Deported? You're kidding!"

"Well, maybe exaggerating a little. They weren't allowed to extend their visas, so they couldn't work here anymore. I'm a citizen because I was born here, so it was easier for them to get me to stay, and it wasn't an issue until after I was the age of majority anyway--but still. It's kind of hard."

"Where are they from?"

"My father's from Belize, and my mother was originally British, but she applied for dual citizenship when she met my dad while she had been backpacking there. She got it, and they moved up here a little over twenty years ago--but had to leave four years back when my dad's application to renew was denied."

"What the hell?"

"Yeah, that was basically our reaction too. The lawyers were pretty expensive--especially for not changing the outcome. It was pretty stupid."

"But like, I've answered the phone when your mom calls."

"Yeah, we are still pretty close. We try to call each other at least two or three times a month--but it can be pretty expensive."

Reno nodded.

"How the hell did I not know this?"

"I don't know, maybe it's cause you're a self-centered prick who never asks questions." Yazoo said offhandedly. Reno looked affronted and Yazoo smiled. "I'm kidding."

"Yeah, but probably not as much as I'd like. Well...sorry dude, I mean that sucks."

Yazoo shrugged.

"I'm used to it. But I am going to go inside 'cause it's getting really cold in here now." Yazoo rubbed his arms as the car chilled and pulled his keys out of his pocket.

"No I mean I'm really sorry--" Reno followed Yazoo out of the car and up to the door. "I've been living with you for like, almost nine months and I didn't know you're parents were deported."

"Yeah, maybe exaggerating a little--"

"Dude, does it not seem strange, and really, really insensitive that I didn't even ask?"

"Did you not ask on purpose?"

"Well no--"

"Did I ever offer to tell you about them and have you ignore me?"

"Uh, not that I know of--"

"Then how could you know? I talk to my parents more than you talk to yours." Yazoo opened the buliding door, and they started up the stairs. "You probably just assumed I was too poor to afford to go visit them and vice versa--without being mean."

"I, well, you know."

"Reno, I am poor--well, not "poor" poor, but definitely not rich. It's ok." Yazoo laughed, "I realize it's pretty easy to tell--the only reason I'm here is because of my scholarship--and student loans."

"Dude, I really have been an ass."

Yazoo turned as he opened the door to their apartment with a smile.

"You're only just realizing this now?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Yazoo was glad they were back to their regular banter--it seemed that Reno hadn't been lying, he really didn't care if Yazoo was gay. He hadn't treated him any differently that before. In fact, it was almost like he'd been nicer...but it was far too easy for Yazoo to imagine it, so he wrote it off.

He had a lot of reading to do for the weekend, and had promised to meet with Elena tomorrow, so it was best if he just focussed on that tonight.

* * *

Chicken had just been fed, his owner curled up on the squishy looking chair looking much healthier than she had the night before.

The red male had just moved up a notch in Chicken's world. He had obviously done wonders with healing her through the night--she looked bright, cheery, even her foot bobbed a little as she sat and flipped through her book.

Chicken could also see the red male acting a little differently. He swam out from behind his castle as the male came out of his habitat and sat across from his owner on the larger sofa. She looked up from her book and bared her teeth--hmm, that was probably a sign of the strength of her gender, probably reminding the red male that he had to work for her still.

He made a lot of gestures with his hands, and Chicken could hear the babble of laughter filter though the water slightly louder than the dull hum of the landfish's voices.

The red male reached out to touch the female a couple of times--never for long, once on the arm, twice a gentle push to the shoulder.

Perhaps he was demonstrating his own strength to her, to see if she would deem him worthy.

Some sort of agreement seemed to be made, and the male headed back to his habitat--the female watching him as he went (and not as subtly as Chicken was sure that she wanted it to be). She looked away just as the red male turned to look back at her--his expression one that Chicken had never seen before.

These landfish had such diverse ways of showing their emotion!

But if he had to guess, that last look before the red male closed off his habitat was one of affection...

* * *

A/N Yes I know you're probably all wanting to kick me right about now... Six frickin' chapters and there's STILL no smut?! Wtf mate?! I'm outta here! But please don't, next month I will be releasing TWO chapters (omg kiki, no wai) for the Hallowe'en special (hinted at by Elena) so please stay tuned for the lovely spooky events for the epic month of October!

replies for

Kiriad: the fact that you said anything says enough! Thank you dear!

DoublleL: Well, you're just going to have to keep reading, won't you? *cackle* hopefully this chapter helps out that it doesn't gross him out or anything...*innocent look* Don't worry, as an author of slash, you can pretty much guarentee what's gonna happen _

Black Luna: Thanks! I hope you like this one too!

IA1979: Ha! I'm glad an update makes you so happy (next month will be double happy!) I'm personally glad Yazoo's out too. Reno needed to know--and now that that's out of the way, they can start bonding a little more. Reno really is sweet--but selectively so, I think he's going to have to learn how to be a lot sweeter before he really deserves all the stuff that Yazoo does for him. Um, yeah, I admittedly have a bit of a foot fetish myself, so you can kind of count on me bringing that back in XD Chicken loves you too!!

All-Seeing-Ryoko: Yeah, I think it melted Yazoo's heart a little too. He's just too confused at the moment to really let it show...I enjoy writing Chicken's observations because I get to look at the world a little differently XD Thanks for the review dear, hope I made you jump again!

chance969: Ha! It IS Yazoo afterall, I can't blame you XDD

Utena-Puchiko-nyu: Yay! I didn't mean to scare you (Yazoo didn't really wanna do it, he was drunk) but I think it's better that Reno knows now. Chicken's the only fish still (well...for the moment kekeke) but of course, someday, maaaaybe there will be another. I promise nothg XD

Jackidy: lol Rude doesn't know what he totally could have had if he hadn't been so...aheh...rude. Yazoo will work things out, I'm sure. And if not, Elena will help--or take over, to steer things in the right direction XD

natzilla: As with most of my stories, the romance will probably start slow--but because their both libido-neglected boys once it starts, it'll go like wildfire. XD Just a little drama to get the ball rolling--Reno had to find out sooner or later the poor oblivious thing.

Brose: Gah! Thank you! I enjoy writing Chicken's pov--it gives me a moment to step back and see how far they've come myself. The story itself is pretty "everyday life" and I'm trying to make it as realistic as possible--Chicken gives me that little bit of fun for each chapter ^_^

RinaluffsPokemonboys: haha, thank you!! Chicken is a bit dramatic, but then again, I would be too if I were a goldfish... XD I hope you've enjoyed this chapter too!

BMIK: don't worry darling, I'm not touching a strand of that gorgeous silver hair with scissors! 0_0 Yazoo is sure going to be trying his darndest (probably with some egging on by Elena) to un-straight Reno, although *coughcough* it may not be as hard as he thinks... '_' I'm not saying anything, I swear. lol Cid and Rude--I'm trying to introduce some more "canon" characters in. I actually just get a kick out of Cid and Reno hanging out talking about boobs XD Yeah, pretty sure that IF Yazoo was straight, he could get any girl. Even with that lame-ass pickup line. Chicken was a bit frustrated last chapter because he couldn't do anything to help, but Reno looked after it, no worries. I'm glad you liked it--there will be mooooaaaaaar ^___^


	7. The Party is Planned

AN: So it was later than expected for the first update of this month, but the second one is still coming, I promise! Life has been pretty hectic getting my own Hallowe'en costumes done around work and moving/packing/unpacking/housework, but thank you all for being so patient with me! Again, a huge thanks to all of my readers and especially those who reviewed! I hope this chapter gives you a little taste of what's to come! Love you!

* * *

Chicken loved mornings. Especially mornings when his two landfish were in their habitat alone. The silver female woke first--this was generally a rule--and after delivering his breakfast (Chicken would never tire of these multi-coloured flakes of ambrosia!!) would skip into the kitchen to prepare one for herself and the red male.

The silver female seemed to be in a particularly good mood this morning, and the sound of humming while she prepared their version of flakes over top of the large food generator. Chicken's attention was drawn to the red male's habitat as the door opened--the female didn't seem to notice him right away. For all the emotions they were able to express, their senses didn't seem to be very strong!

Chicken watched the red male sneak across the common territory--it was obvious he was trying to be stealthy as the female landfish continued to hum to herself and tapped the pan with the silver utensil in her hand.

The male was right behind her, how could she not notice?! It wasn't until she turned around that she did, and Chicken bolted into his castle at the alarm she raised.

* * *

"Fuck, Reno..."

"Sorry." Reno grinned, "I scare you?"

"Uh, yeah." Yazoo rolled his eyes. Mostly he was a little embarrassed that he'd been caught dancing at the stove. Reno never got up this early. What the hell? He cleared his throat and tried to salvage some of his dignity. "So what are you up to today?"

Reno shrugged, scratching at the back of his head.

"I um, have some stuff to do for class tomorrow. I was just gonna laze around here all day." He smiled, "You doing anything special?"

"I've been invited to that faculty Hallowe'en party--I have to go meet with my group today...She wants to join the costume competition." Yazoo tactfully avoided saying it was Elena. Reno did know he was gay, but he didn't really want to bring up the fact that he'd become friends with one of the girls his roommate had slept with.

"Oh." Reno looked a little disappointed. "Wait, you're going to that?"

"Uh, yeah. Is there something wrong with it?"

"No, I just would have thought you had better things to do."

Yazoo frowned.

"You know, I know you think I'm really boring Reno--but I was planning on doing something for Hallowe'en anyway...even if I hadn't gotten invited to do the competition." He flipped the french toast moodily.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Reno grinned and crossed his arms as he leaned on the counter.

"I--I don't know. But I would have come up with something." Yazoo sniffed, but couldn't help but smile at Reno's laugh. "Oh shut up, I would too. Hallowe'en is one of my favourite holidays--even though I sound like I'm four when I say that."

"I wouldn't have pegged you for a costume lover, is all." Reno snickered.

"Yeah well, I like dressing up." Yazoo grinned slyly, throwing a bit of a glance at Reno. Let him take that whichever way he wanted...

Yazoo split the french toast into triangles and slid them out of the pan onto a plate.

"Here. Breakfast."

Reno had recovered from the strange expression he'd adopted and smiled in thanks.

"You're awesome Zoo." Reno took his plate to the table, getting out the syrup, milk and a couple of glasses as he went. "It's like having a mom--you know, without actually living with family."

"Hey, if you want me to keep cooking for you, it's best not to call me your mom, alright?" Yazoo laughed as he finished his own and turned off the pan to join Reno at the table.

"What do you want me to call you then?" Reno smirked, and Yazoo paused. Reno's tone was--flirty?

"Uh..." He stammered slightly, "Zoo works for me." Dammit, he could feel the heat rising on his cheeks. He hid it under his bangs as he took his first bite. "Or darling-toast-master. Whichever you prefer..." He joked, hoping Reno wouldn't notice his blush.

"Darling-toast-master...hmm." Reno tapped his lips with his fork. "You realize that will probably come back to haunt you, right?"

"Yeah, but I know now that your real name is Redmond, so I suggest you use it sparingly."

"Ah touche." Reno scowled. "Despite all that, breakfast is, as usual, really good Zoo. Thanks."

* * *

Yazoo left to Elena's after breakfast after giving her a quick phone call to confirm the address. Reno had called out "See you later Darling Toast Master!" as he had closed the front door, and Yazoo had grinned triumphantly to himself. Yeah, he could get used to having Reno call him darling. That would definitely keep him doing for a while...

He found Elena's apartment easily--it was the top floor of a house in a quiet neighbourhood. Yazoo was impressed by all the trees along the street, he loved the autumn colours, and Elena's apartment had a huge maple on the front lawn with about seven different colours in it. He sighed happily.

Elena answered the door and escorted Yazoo up the stairs from the front foyer. She seemed very excited.

"Oh it's going to be perfect! I was talking with a couple of other girls from my program who've decided to enter. I think we have this in the bag--at least now that you've decided to do it with me! They were having problems getting guys wanting to join their groups--"

Yazoo suddenly had a very bad feeling that Elena was hiding something about the contest. Perhaps he should have looked at the email himself. Come to think of it, Reno had been surprised he was going to be in the contest too...

"Elena," Yazoo said worriedly, "why don't any guys want to join the contest?"

"Umm..." Elena rolled her eyes mischievously and simply lead Yazoo into her cozy living room where she'd set up a couple of mannequins to model the costumes. "Well, I made these costumes a while ago--when I used to have a boyfriend, but I updated them, and I can make some alterations if you need--"

"Elena!" Yazoo cut her off, looking a bit shell shocked as he realized which costume was going to be his.

"Yeah, well, I guess I forgot to mention that along with being themed "Society's Startling Symbioses" it was a drag show, but so what?"

"Elena, don't you thin that would have been an important detail to let me know?!" Yazoo looked panicky.

"Oh, Yazoo, please don't back out on me now--you'd be perfect! We're bound to win if you do it! It would be great to have the spokesperson role for this campaign, I mean, it would really impress my employers at the academy...and the extra money wouldn't hurt. It's not much, but we'd only have to split it two ways..."

"Elena," Yazoo looked a little white.

"Yazoo, think about it." She grinned, stooping for a moment, "Plus, you'll get to wear these." She held up a pair of sleek stilettos. "I bet Reno would love it."

"But he isn't--gah, he isn't gay!" Yazoo pushed the shoes down out of his face. Elena only laughed.

"Yeah, but you told me that you think he likes your feet a lot." She swung the shoes back up infront of him. "A man with a foot fetish could turn gay if you have the 'perfect feet'." Yazoo rolled his eyes.

"Elena..."

"Oh please Yazoo, it would be so awesome..." Elena already knew Yazoo was going to agree--he had that look now. She smirked.

"Fine." Yazoo conceded, and snatched the shoes away from her, taking a closer look at what he was getting himself into.

"You'll make the perfect Bunny." Elena laughed and started undressing the mannequin so Yazoo could try the costume on. Yazoo looked a bit horrified as she handed over the silky bustier and cufflinks, the tiny cottontail and fishnets. She dangled the ears from her fingers.

"And you'll make the perfect crusty old Hugh Hefner." Yazoo said with a grin. Elena had to concede that.

"Well of course! I'll have the prettiest 'girl' there at my beck and call. Now go try it on. I have to see how many adjustments I have to make." She smiled as Yazoo went to change in the bathroom. This was going to be so much fun.

* * *

Reno let himself into Chesty's house, he always kept it open while he was there so he wouldn't have to get up and pause his game when his friends came over. Sure enough, Cid was sprawled over his sofa infront of his console, thumbs moving madly over his buttons as the rest of him had relaxed into the cushions.

"Hey Turk." He said without taking his eyes from the screen. Reno always wondered how he could tell which friend had come over...

"Hey."

"What's up?" Press, press, tiiiiilt, press.

"The four of us are supposed to get together on Hallowe'en, yeah?" Reno sat on the sofa's arm, putting his feet up beside Chesty's head.

"Yeah, got a change of plans?"

"No, I mean, we should still totally hang out." Reno watched the screen as Chesty swore at his character, "Have you heard of the faculty hallowe'en party?"

"Oh yeah, the one at City U's library?"

"Yeah."

"That's Zoo's school too, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, what about the party?"

"Well, it's a costume party."

"Well duh, it's Hallowe'en dude. GODDAMN YOU MOVE!" Chesty cursed again as his thumbs moved frantically doing combos.

"So I think we should go."

"Huh."

"No seriously."

"Aren't we too old for costumes? I mean last year, we just went to a party to get drunk. I figured we'd be doing the same thing."

"Yeah, well, it's licensed. So I mean, we'll still be getting drunk. There'll just be a whole lot of chicks dressed up in slutty cat costumes or slutty vampire costumes or slutty--"

"Ohhh..." Chesty's attention was finally drawn from the screen. He pressed pause on his controller. "There's a lot of teacher's college girls there, right?"

"I guess so. They run that program there. And there is a costume competition for the literacy thing."

"Sweet. I'm in. Lug and Skimpy'll too."

"Cool." Reno sat and watched the screen as Chesty resumed his game. It was a couple of minutes before Chesty spoke again.

"What are you going to dress up as?"

"I thought we should go as a group. Not to enter the contest or anything..." Chesty paused his game again and looked over at Reno.

"I'm assuming you have an idea then for the four of us." Reno grinned and leaned back, hands behind his head.

"Of course I do Chesty. You have so little faith in me."

* * *

Yazoo arrived back at home in the early evening feeling far less masculine than when he'd left. Elena had pretty much destroyed any feelings of manliness by complimenting him constantly on his figure; she wouldn't have to do many alterations to the bustier; how long his legs were; how killer he looked in heels. Yazoo dropped his keys on the table by the door and went to go sit down. He didn't want to be good at walking in heels, but apparently he was a natural. Elena had offered to lend him to the shoes to practice, but Yazoo told her that he really couldn't do that. Hallowe'en was probably his only (and best) excuse to wear them.

But he did think he'd be the same height as Reno when he wore them...

Oh god, he hoped Reno wasn't going to be there. Maybe he wouldn't, because of his reaction to Yazoo saying he would be going, Yazoo figured he might want to stay home or just go out drinking instead. He didn't really want to think about Reno, but Elena had filled his head with so many thoughts. He should never have told her. It was constantly "oh, he'll see you in this" and "I bet he'd love you if you did this". He couldn't help it...

He wondered what would really happen if Reno saw him in the Bunny costume. Yazoo dropped his bag on the livingroom floor and wandered into the bathroom, leaning on the sink as he studied himself in the mirror.

Reno had never said he didn't find him attractive, in fact, he teased him relentlessly for being "pretty". Yazoo turned on the faucet for the shower, stripping off his shirt. He left the door open slightly so the bathroom would cloud up with too much steam and stepped under the hot stream of water once he'd undressed completely.

The water felt good, and Yazoo closed his eyes.

Would Reno think he was "pretty" in his costume? Would he think he was hot? Yazoo felt a familiar twinge in his abdomen and he grabbed a bar of soap, letting sudsy hands slide over his wet chest and stomach. Would he trail his hands down to rest on his hips, defined by the corsetting of the costume and bite at his earlobe? Yazoo bit his lip and his hand trailed lower, grasping his awakening erection as he imagine Reno touching him, kissing his neck, slipping the bustier down his body and catching his thumbs in his fishnets.

"Fuck you're hot Zoo."

Yazoo let out a soft gasp and squeezed tighter as his fist stroked along his heated flesh.

"Goddamn, you've got amazing legs."

He imagined Reno's fingers trailing along his thighs then the redhead dropping to his knees to continue downwards along the backs of his knees, his calves, his ankles.

"Your feet. Jesus your feet get me so hard."

Reno bent down and licked across the top of one foot, up to his ankle before gingerly reaching out to stroke along the contour of his arch. Yazoo moaned again, very quietly, and his hips bucked forward. Reno bent over again, letting his tongue trace the line his fingers just drew, then curled his lips around his baby toe as he kissed and suckled it.

Yazoo's palm moved swiftly now as the thoughts of Reno made him harder. He whimpered as his hips bucked again, and his other hand curled around behind him, smoothing down along his ass to press against...

Reno pressed against him from behind, his erection digging into the cleft of his ass, one arm curled around his chest, the other reaching down the stroke along Yazoo's cock. His tongue snuck around his ear and down his neck where Reno bit softly at the base of his neck.

"Don't say anything..." He whispered in his ear and pressed inside, thick and hot. Yazoo shuddered, but managed to remain silent as Reno continued to sink into him, kissing along his shoulders and back and drawing small circles with his finger around one nipple. He sunk in all the way, allowing only a moment of reprieve for Yazoo before withdrawing and thrusting forward again. Yazoo's breath hitched, and Reno's hand stroked him faster.

"That's it Zoo. Come on...cum for me."

Fuuuuck.

Yazoo's hands stilled and the shower washed away the evidence that had hit him across his stomach. He trembled slightly and had to lean up against the shower wall as he caught his breath through the steam of the shower. It was always an empty sort of feeling afterwards, but Yazoo tried not to let it bother him and finished his shower, washing his hair and actually cleaning himself with the soap...

He had just slung a towel around his hips and opened the door the rest of the way to let the steam out.

"Oh, hey Zoo. You been home long?" Reno's voice froze him to the spot, and his fingers clung desperately around the top of his towel.

"N-no. Just...just got home and got in the shower. Only for about uh, twenty minutes, half an hour?" Oh god, how long had Reno been home? He hadn't heard anything--he hadn't been loud, right?

"Okay, cool. Just got in too. Went to visit Chesty--we're not doing anything tonight cause I have class tomorrow. But since you were out, I thought I should catch up with him instead of sitting here alone all day."

"Uh, sorry...I mean, I could have come back sooner," Yazoo had the distinct impression Reno was trying to make him feel guilty.

"Don't worry about it." His roommate smiled. "We just had some plans to work out for our Hallowe'en weekend. You doing anything tonight?"

Yazoo smirked.

"Just planning on making dinner. You in?"

"God, I thought you'd never ask. Absolutely." Reno smiled widely.

"Sure thing. I'll just go get dressed." Yazoo said, sounding much calmer than he felt. He retreated to his room to calm his nerves.

Reno watched his roommate until he closed his door, his fingers drumming anxiously on his knee.

* * *

The next couple of weeks leading up to Hallowe'en were busy. Not only with schoolwork, but with costumes, plans and meals. Yazoo spent a lot of time out of the apartment, telling Reno he had projects and meetings for Hallowe'en, but more for the reason that he found he couldn't look Reno straight in the eye anymore without blushing. It seemed like his roommate was doing more things that drove him to the edge lately, fueling his fantasies on endlessly through the night, through the shower, and unfortunately throughout the day too.

He was becoming so unproductive because of it...

If Reno noticed anything strange about him, he didn't say anything. To Yazoo, it seemed he was conveniently out of the apartment almost as much as he was. Which didn't bother him too much, because it meant that he didn't have to have anymore close calls of Reno catching him in the shower.

Hallowe'en was creeping up quickly though, and Yazoo had a lot of things on his mind as he flipped through another book from his stack at the library. None of them seemed to be his thesis. He sighed loudly and closed the book.

"Having difficulties Delta?" A voice asked from behind him. Yazoo jumped.

"Oh, Professor Hojo--you startled me, I didn't hear you there."

"It's a library, one is supposed to be quiet."

"Yeah, I guess so." Yazoo laughed and pulled his chair out a little, facing his teacher as Hojo sat down next to him.

"You look like you're having troubles with that." Hojo nodded towards the book on the table.

"Not really. I guess it's more of a concentration issue than anything with the theories. The author has some really interesting ideas for genetic structure..."

"But it's just boring?" Hojo picked up the book and flipped though it with a smile.

"Umm, yeah."

"Well, Doctor Hollander's findings usually are. I don't really like the way he presents his findings. Very bland, very disintrested. The man could find a way to produce artificial stem cells and he'd still make it sound like a second-by-second breakdown of what he had for breakfast." Hojo set the book down. "I wouldn't recommend him as a source."

Yazoo was startled. Usually, professors would have their favourite theories or theoreticians to have their students site from, but they wouldn't tell them. Hojo was usually a fair marker--he wouldn't give a bad grade just from the sources of a paper, would he? Yazoo decided to be careful.

"Thanks Si--I mean Hojo. It saves me from having to force myself through it today. I might just call it a day though. I don't seem to be getting much done."

"Would you care to join me for a coffee? I was just leaving myself. I have a meeting at five tonight, but that gives me just enough time to enjoy a coffee outside of the school."

Yazoo hesitated. It was just a cup of coffee, right? The way Hojo had said it made it seem like it really wasn't a big deal, they just happened to coincide, so he'd invited him out to join him. Made sense...

Yazoo shook away the slight warning signal at the back of his mind and agreed. He and his professor picked up their coats and left the library.

The coffee was short, the conversation pleasant, and when Yazoo left to go home, he laughed at himself for making it a bigger deal than it clearly was.

* * *

Chicken had been witness to some very strange behaviour in the past few days. Both the red male and the silver female were infrequent in the habitat, not often appearing at the same time. The school of other males came frequently with the red male--he must be building up his hormones to impress the female now--and made some drastic appearances to themselves.

They shed their regular colours for an aesthetically pleasing black and white, covering their faces, their hair, their bodies with the shades. Red was used sparingly, adorning only specific features, while chains, spikes and buckles protruded around their forms.

Were they going to fight? Had mating season started?

If it was a fight, it was the strangest Chicken could ever imagine.

Loud music pulsed through his underwater home, and the floor shook with the synchronized mating dance and yelling ensued.

If this was what happened before mating, Chicken could only fear how loud the actual deed would be.

* * *

review replies ^____^! (holy fanmail batman!)

Valitiel: Hehe, now you see why Elena would have to adjust? XD Yeah, Reno's gran is the shiz...she reminds me a little of my grandmas merged together. I thought they both needed to know a little more about each other. Bonding boys are fun ^_^

Natzilla: yaaay! Reno has a long way to come from his uber-womanizing ways, so I know it's been a while for the smut stuff, but I felt it had to be. The competition is going to be very fun (elena's pretty gung-ho about it) so stay tuned for the next update next week ^_^ *love*

Utena-Puchiko-nyu: Aww, thank you! I try not to do too many OCs, but she was a lot of fun to write in. There will be (real) smut soon, I hope you liked the teasing little taste in this update XD

RinaluffsPokemonboys: October IS a great month! No matter what! XD Chicken and Reno's grandma love you too ^_^

Chance: now love, I put a little tidbit in there for you to try and satiate you a little. It's coming, I swear!

Jackidy: well, now a dress would just be too humiliating! ...playboy bunny however is up for grabs! XD Your grandma must be awesome, I'd love to meet her.

fringeperson: Yay! Reno's grandma loves you too... but she will still kick your ass at trivial pursuit XD as for your question...no comment at this time XD

Gopher Child: Thanks so much! My move happened smoothly, and as you can see, I'm still chugging away at the chapters! (next one is already in the works)

Suvu: Thank you (for the various reviews, love)! The rest of the chapters are all planned out now, and just like you, I'm excited for the double chapters this month too! (the next chapter is so my favourite XD) Hope this one keeps up to the others!

Black-Luna: Aww, thanks! Chicken is a lot of fun to write for me, I always look forward to ending off the chapter with him (he started it this time too). It gives me a little break out of my head to analyze where I am in the story XD Thanks for the review!

BMIK: yes, Elena is pretty evil, but she's working for us! Trust me XD I'm glad Yazoo got to meet Reno's family too, he kinda knows how he turned out the way he did now. XD Of course they're gonna get closer! It is a renzoo after all XDD The next chapter will have to be written quickly (but it'll seem like a breeze, I can't wait) but it has a lot planned for it. Hallowe'en baby! (My personal favourite time of year)

IA1979: I hope Elena's costume idea hasn't raped your mind too much XD I think you'll notice I put in a little bit more foot (teehee) for you in this chapter too. It's all Yazoo's been thinking about too! Next update should be within the next week or so to celebrate Hallowe'en! Thanks for the lovely comments (as always) it keeps me going! Really!

Queen of the Potatoes: Wow! Thank you so much! TwT I like writing AUs that try to stay true to canon "feel" of characters...I'm so glad you like it! (And yes, Chicken feels the love, baby) The hot, sweaty mansex will come, never fear! But thanks so much for the comment!


	8. The Party Occurs

**A/N**: GAAAAAH! So fail!timing this past week. But, it being All-Saints Day, this update is still (sorta) timely. I'm sorry I missed the ACTUAL Hallowe'en, but I've made up for it with the epic length of this chapter. A lot of stuff happens O_o Go read it. Now. (and big hearts to all reviewers ^____^ and all readers. Happy Hallowe'en, and I love you allll!)

* * *

Hallowe'en had finally come. Yazoo wasn't quite sure if he was looking forward to it though as Elena passed him his costume to put on for the evening.

"Come on Yazoo. You've had plenty of time to back out of this. Now is definitely not the time." Elena laughed as Yazoo pulled a face at the tail.

"I know, I know." Yazoo rolled his eyes and proceeded into the bathroom. "And the skit is great, I think we really do have a good chance of winning it," He continued even though the door closed behind him, "You just realize you owe me big time."

"Of course! I'll be at your beck and call for the next year." Elena said, rolling her eyes a little. She and Yazoo had had a great time in the last couple of weeks preparing for the costume competition. Heck, they even had music and a dance routine...

Yazoo took a deep breath and stepped out in his costume. He felt exposed, even though the bustier was cut low on the leg, it still showed off ALL of his legs. He took the shoes from Elena.

"Now get your costume on you fag hag." He put a finger up as she began to giggle. "You're supposed to be a man. Men do not giggle--so butch up."

"Yes Ma'am." Elena smiled as she disappeared into her room to get her costume on.

This gave Yazoo a little bit of time to look at himself in the mirror. He'd stopped wondering a while ago how he'd gotten talked into this--more just arguing with Elena for the sake of it. He didn't want to tell her though that he kinda...really liked it.

He liked the way his legs looked in heels. They looked more shapely and longer, especially when fishnet clad. He turned in front of the mirror to look at the tiny teardrop shaped tail--with light pink accents, just like the furred ears that clipped on his head. He straightened his cuff link, only just managing to stop preening when Elena emerged again.

"Ta da!" She spun, then put her hands on her hips. She had flattened her chest and stuck a few wisps of hair to the skin that showed from the open collar of her bathrobe, adorned with gold embroidered "HH" on the lapel and hem. She'd bought a bald cap then styled a thin comb over onto it and touched herself up with liquid latex to create wrinkles on her face. She smiled, though it looked more like a grimace.

"You look so good Zoo. How do I look?"

"Like a crusty old man."

"Perfect! You ready? We'll get there early, but it'll definitely be worth it." She held out the crook of her elbow to Yazoo, a lecherous grin on her face.

"Of course Hugh." Yazoo lilted, slipping his hand onto Elena's arm. He flicked his hair. "Whatever you say darling."

"You know," Elena led them down the hall and out the front door, "You do that scary well Yazoo."

* * *

Chicken settled down into his now quiet castle and flicked his tail to stir out the particles from the base. It had been a bustle today! The silver female had left a while ago after feeding him for the second time that day, and that had apparently been a signal for the red male to bring his male companions into the habitat again.

They were very loud, and dressed themselves in those strange mating outfits again, faces black and white with stars and whiskers...Chicken wasn't sure if he understood that bit yet. Their hair had all been turned black--and somehow gotten bigger, and they pulled huge platforms onto their feet, towering above their regular height.

The red male (although he had changed his colours, Chicken still knew it was him) strapped a large red stringed box shaped a bit like a fish (if you squinted) to his back, moving his fingers across the slender attachment across the strings in a pattern that made Chicken a little dizzy as he'd watched.

A similar black fish-shaped box with only four strings had been picked up by another landfish, and they'd connected them to a large black box. There had been a static hiss then--

Chicken's mind still reeled a little from the noise.

But it had been rhythmic and melodic...just...loud.

"Awesome guys. We should bring the amps so we can play on the lawn of the library. This is gonna be sweet."

Chicken had been able to hear that through the black box too--didn't know what it meant--but it was like a landfsh voice, only louder.

The red male and his school had left soon after that, to Chicken's relief. Some peace and quiet. Finally.

* * *

Reno closed the car door with a thud and smirked widely as the other three members of his "band" got out as well. He could hear a couple of "oh my god, look at them!"s as they crossed the parking lot to the library.

"Dude you make an awesome Paul Stanley Turk." Lug said, coming up beside Reno. "Where the hell did you find these costumes?"

"Got 'em off Ebay as a set. Stupid price too--I don't know what's wrong with people sometimes. I mean, paying a hundred fifty bucks for four Kiss costumes? That's insane." He sized up Lug's Ace Frehley costume. "It fits you well. I was worried."

"Shut up man." Lug grinned. Barret (as he was known outside of his friends) wasn't fat--in fact he lifted weights to the point of being able to compete in amateur bodybuilding competitions. But, the others always called him that from one little incident where he'd asked them their opinions on a shirt he'd bought.

He hadn't asked them since, but the damage had been done.

"Oh my god!" The four of them turned at the high pitched exclamation, and a couple of girls dressed in stockings and tails (they were mice, apparently) bounced over to them enthusiastically. "You guys look amazing! Can we get a picture with you?" One procured a camera from somewhere on her person that made the four boys wonder where the hidden pockets were on her costume.

"Of course!" Skimpy slung one arm over her shoulder, ginning at her through his Gene Simmon's makeup. The girl clapped and handed her camera to her friend who dutifully snapped the photo as she posed in between them all.

"You guys watching the contest then? I mean, you can't really participate--it's a shame, you look awesome."

"Can't participate?" Reno asked, "Is it registration only kinda thing?"

"Well no, you can sign up tonight but you guys aren't in drag, so it wouldn't work."

Reno lifted an eyebrow. But Yazoo had said he was gonna be in the contest...

"It's a drag contest?" Chesty asked, looking skeptically at Reno. He'd told him there would be plenty of scantily clad women--sure the mice were good, but...

"Well yeah! I mean, just the contest though. If you didn't enter it's not a drag party...it's just part of the fundraiser thing--to make it more of a challenge, and also so they don't get drunk people entering at the last minute. They wanted it to be a bit classier, since it's going to be televised and all."

"Yeah, but the whole faculty is basically coming to this--I know all my classes are." The other girl nodded, "It's huge."

Chesty had been reassured not only by the girls' testimonies, but also the sight of several car fulls of girls scampering into the large building across from them--holding onto tiny skirts or shirts...perfect.

"Well, we'll see you inside!" One of the mice smiled and dragged her friend in with her.

"Come on." Chesty grinned, following predatorily. "You're right Turk, this is gonna be awesome."

Reno followed last, apparently adjusting his guitar on his back, but also a little preoccupied with thoughts of the contest.

* * *

A few hours in, Reno hadn't spotted Yazoo yet. The two mice girls had been right--it was a huge party. The library had rented out their reception hall, and they'd erected a stage in the middle room (presumably for the contest) which was really the only landmark to find people other than the rather busy bar set up in one of the rooms shooting off the corners. Quite a few girls had attached themselves to him during the evening so far, one even being so bold to tell him what she wanted him to do to her, but he'd managed to shake her off.

He couldn't understand quite what was wrong with him--but these girls didn't really interest him tonight. He didn't want to leave though, cause the rest of his band was having a great time--even Skimpy was doing well chatting a girl up in the corner, and he was hopeless.

Reno decided that he probably just needed to have another beer, and headed off to join the line for the bar. He heard the announcement and music for the contest start just as the bartender passed him his beer, and he started wading back through the crowd to get to the main room.

"--you all for coming tonight! Because of everyone's lively donations at the bar tonight, we've already managed to raise over nine thousand dollars for our literacy initiative tonight! Of course, I want you all to be responsible, blah blah blah..." The mc waved his hand and rolled his eyes, "But tonight, we kill our brain cells for enriching others!" The audience whooped, raising glasses up in a toast. "So now, onto our important matter of the evening! The winners of our competition tonight will not only receive an honourium for being both awesome and brave--but will also be featured in our upcoming campaign for 'LitAware E!' online! We have ten different teams and groups competing for you tonight, ladies and gentlemen, Society's Startling Symbioses!"

Reno craned his neck to see, a group of four girls (dressed in prison jumpsuits) chained together. As they performed, Reno squeezed in closer to the stage to see better. The girls looked good--well, they were convincing at least. They really did look like men...

Their skit was short but funny, and the mc encouraged the audience to applaud louder as they led themselves backstage.

"Thank you gentlemen! Ladies...um, prison bitches." The mc smirked, "For the most startling comparison drawn between felony and fellatio other than the first three letters. Now remember, our panel of esteemed judges--" He pointed to the table where four costumed judges waved, "Is highly affected by both your reactions and bribes. Talk to them after about the latter--however!" He held up his hand, "Remember to cheer loudest for your favourites, it'll probably make a difference." The audience cheered loudly to prove his point. He smiled and waved his hand again, "Okay, enough about you--our second team!"

The second team had recruited a football player to play a female tennis player--subsequently, much of their dialogue was lost in the whoops every time his short skirt rode up. But their point had obviously been made.

Reno was having fun--most of the groups had put in quite an effort and it was highly amusing, especially with beer. About eight groups had performed, the mc was really getting the crowd going now in between the acts, and he cued the next group, the song "stupid girls" following him off the stage. Obviously the next group had gone all out...

Oh my god, they had a dancing Hugh Hefner. Reno laughed loudly--the girl playing Hugh really could dance, and it was a little creepy to see an old man crump--but the crowd loved it and cheered her on, fists pumping in the air as she thrust and smacked an invisible ass...

Hugh stopped as the music ground to a halt, his Bunny had appeared on the other side of the stage, arms crossed and looking very disapproving.

Fuck, that was a guy?!

Reno leaned over the shoulder of the girl next to him to get a better look as the crowd cheered with surprise and delight.

Holy fuck! That was Yazoo!

The music suddenly continued and Yazoo and Hugh starting dancing in sync, but Reno was too stunned to really appreciate it, his mouth hanging open. Legs. Yazoo had fucking LEGS.

Their dance ended with the Bunny dipping Hugh Hefner low, and the audience cheered loudly--much beer got spilled in the enthusiasm.

Hugh and Bunny grinned widely and bowed, Hugh smacking his Bunny on the ass as they left the stage, causing more cheers, catcalls and laughter from the rowdy crowd. The mc came back out, and simply grinned and nodded, making rude gestures with his hands and pelvis for quite a few minutes--the crowd loved it.

Reno finally managed to cheer.

Holy fucking Hell.

* * *

As soon as they got off the stage, Yazoo was violently hugged by Elena, nearly toppling them both over.

"Oh my god, you are so amazing. If you weren't gay, I would be so attracted to you--I mean, I am, but you're gay. I love you!"

"Gaaah, boobs. Elena--"

"Oh we are totally going to win this." Elena pulled herself off him, beaming--it still looked a little creepy because of all the latex wrinkles though. Yazoo grimaced.

"Okay yes, it was really fucking fun." He conceded and Elena laughed.

"I told you! Here--" Elena opened a couple of beers for them, she'd brought them backstage earlier so they wouldn't be heading on stage after drinking. "To pre-emptively celebrate." They clinked their bottles together, watching the last act from offstage. Yazoo was still subconsciously scanning the crowd, trying to pick out faces he knew--but it was hard with all the facepaint and costumes of course. He was drawn back to the stage when the mc began announcing again.

"Whew! Well, that was our last act--" The crowd obliged him with an 'aawww', "I know, I know. But now, our judges will deliberate for a few moments while I get a little bit of an opinion poll going on." He smirked, crossing the stage as he continued, "But, for the sake of wasting time--and not having me tell you anymore stories about goats, please, audience, now is the time to affect the judges' votes. Who do you want to win?"

He turned the mic outwards onto the crowd, and was answered by several loud voices.

"The Bunny Man!"

"Hugh and Bunny!"

"The dance one!"

The crowd cheered instantly, a short chanting of 'playboy, playboy' starting up from the back. Yazoo and Elena looked to each other excitedly.

"Oh, so you like the girly men, do you Sir? You do realize this is a drag show, right?" The mc laughed at one particularly enthusiastic jock by the edge of the stage. "Is this your girlfriend?" He asked, and got a nod from the jock. "Oh, cool. Honey," He addressed the lolita hanging on his arm, "He's got something to tell you..."

The crowd laughed, and one of the judges stood up.

"Ah, apparently our judges also have something to tell us. Please, Scooby Doo, impart your wise adjudication to us."

"Based on many, many factors--including costume, originality and overall effect, we, myself, Fred Flinstone, Janis Joplin and this strange alien life form at the end have decided--Please Mister master of ceremonies, congratulate Hugh Hefner and his Playboy Bunny."

The crowd had started cheering at Hugh. Yazoo and Elena came back out on stage, brought by the mc to be presented the larger than normal cheque from the judges' table.

Yazoo didn't think he'd ever stop blushing.

He'd made it to the washroom finally after wading through the crowd filled with people congratulating him, coming onto him...he really couldn't stop smiling though. He'd let Elena handle most of it and had snuck away to the basement washrooms where it would be a bit quieter. The men's room was empty, thankfully, and Yazoo washed his hands and checked his lipstick in the mirror. He could still hardly recognize himself. Elena had done a number on him with his makeup. He didn't look up when the door opened, and didn't think anything of it until he felt someone behind him. He looked over his shoulder in the mirror and jumped.

"Ah, christ...you scared me Professor." He laughed, a little nervously. Hojo was dressed as a classic vampire--the whole slicked-hair sunken-cheeked look and it really hadn't been what he was expecting.

"Congratulations Delta. That was quite a performance."

"Oh, thanks Hojo. I was talked into it, but I guess it was a lot of fun."

"I wouldn't have figured you for the Playboy Bunny type. Isn't this a little revealing?"

Yazoo felt that warning signal in his gut go off again. Hojo was awfully close behind him. He turned from the counter, crossing to the hand dryer.

"Well, yeah, I guess. She made it herself. It's fun--"

"I agree. It is lots of fun." Hojo had followed him, keeping closer than Yazoo felt was necessary. The hair on the back of his neck rose.

"I should get back upstairs. Elena'll be--"   
"Elena will be fine without you for a bit. She seems like quite an interesting person." Hojo placed his hand on the wall beside the dryer, starting to block Yazoo off from the door. Yazoo felt a cold stab through his belly. Fuck.

"Uh, Professor..."

"You look lovely tonight Delta. Quite comfortable in it too. You must have been practicing."

"I have to go." Yazoo stated, feeling like maybe he should have used the busier washroom. He pushed Hojo's hand aside to head towards the door. He was thrown off balance when Hojo gripped his wrist as he passed and spun him back up against the wall. The hand dryer hit him in the middle of his back with a slam. The pain stunned him for a moment, and it was clearly enough for Hojo to press up against him.

"You're a little tease, aren't you Delta? Far too coy for your own good--even in class. I mean, I would never have expected this," His hand brushed down Yazoo's bustier to the top of his fishnets. "but it is defintely not unwelcome."

Yazoo forgot about the pain in his back at Hojo's touch and pushed his Professor off of him, sprinting to the door.

"Get the fuck off of me!" He yelled, but felt Hojo grab for him again. He shoved an elbow in the direction of his face, and felt it connect--with a nose or chin--and grabbed at the door handle to the outside hall. Hojo grunted and pushed them both out of the washroom, landing firmly up against the opposite wall of the hallway.

"Get--the fuck--off!!" Yazoo yelled again, but Hojo was much heavier and larger than he, and he held him up against the wall, his breath along the back of his neck.

"You want it, you're practically begging for it in this costume. I wondered if you were gay, but this is more of an answer than I needed." Hojo's smirk could be heard through his tone. Yazoo yelled loud and long--though it didn't discourage Hojo's hands--he was just hoping someone would hear...

* * *

"Elena right?" Reno had found Hugh Hefner. Yazoo had apparently made friends with his one night stand. A little embarrassing...

"Ha oh my god! Reno! I'm so glad you came! Did you like our performance?" Elena grinned. She'd have to tell Yazoo that Reno was here--and dressed as Kiss. Judging by that slightly glazed look, he'd enjoyed it too.

"Yeah, you guys were definitely the best. Congrats." Reno smiled, looking around Elena. "Uh, is Zoo here? I didn't actually tell him I was coming to this too--was going to offer him a ride home after, it would probably be easier."

"Uh huh." Elena smirked, getting a funny glint in her eye. "The last time I saw him he just said he needed to find a washroom that didn't have a huge lineup. "I'm sure he'll love your costume. You look amazing." She pointed downwards, "I think it's the shoes that make it."

Reno was really glad that Elena didn't seem to be angry at him for anything. He probably had Yazoo to thank for that, and nodded.

"Yeah. They're pretty comfortable too. I think I'm gonna go find him--cause if I wait, I'll never find him in all these people."

"Kay. Let him know I'll be over by the bar with our large check." Elena smiled at him again, Reno wasn't quite sure why he felt that she knew something he didn't. He shook his head and weaved around the people between him and the stairwell. If he remembered correctly, there were big washrooms downstairs, and a bit of a hike down a hall, so they'd probably be less crowded. He'd check there first.

He had gotten about halfway down the hallway when he heard yelling.

"Get--the fuck--off!"

"You want it, you're practically begging for it in this costume..." The low mutter chilled his flesh and he started running something was wrong. Another yell--louder as he got closer. It was Yazoo. He could see him now--there was a man...

"What the fuck!?" Reno yelled, answering Yazoo's call and startling the other man. He saw him back off and as soon as he could, Yazoo had broken off towards him in a run. The man stood there for a second, and Reno pulled the guitar off his back, wielding it by the neck as he approached. The man got a look at him, then broke into a run in the other direction.

Reno took off after him, but was stopped when Yazoo clung onto him, fitting so perfectly into his arms and burying himself in his chest.

"Reno..."

"Yazoo--you want me to go after him? Who the fuck?"

"My modern genetics pr-professor..." Yazoo's voice cracked and his knees buckled, putting all of his weight onto Reno. Reno thankfully caught him and lowered them to the floor.

"You're okay, right? He didn't..."

"No. But he would have." Yazoo's voice shook, and his fingers pulled at Reno's shirt.

"You can charge him. Ruin his fucking life, okay? I'll help you. Sue his ass."

Yazoo nodded against Reno's chest, and Reno realised that he was crying. He put his guitar down (now that he didn't have to smash the pervert's face with it, he really didn't want to break it) and held his arms around Yazoo, one hand curling up to stroke his hair.

"It's okay Zoo. I gotcha."

Yazoo nodded again, but couldn't contain the sob.

"You're gonna be fine. I'll take you home. I'll call the police for you. I'll look after you, okay?"

Yazoo nodded again, but it would take about another fifteen minutes before Reno managed to get them both up and heading back upstairs.

* * *

Reno had stopped by the police station on their way back, determined that Hojo really shouldn't be allowed to get away with it for any amount of time. It had been a long process, and Yazoo looked exhausted when they finally got home. He was still wearing his costume, Reno's coat covering most of it though, and he leaned heavily against the wall as Reno locked up the door behind them.

"Reno..."

"Yeah Zoo?"

"T-thank you. For coming. And finding me. I..."

"I wish I had been there sooner so that fucker couldn't have done anything."

"But you came. When no one else did."

Reno paused, putting a hand on his roommate's shoulder.

"I'm really glad I went looking for you yo. I...I don't want anything like that to happen to you. Ever. You--no one should have to go through that. Especially from someone that you should be able to respect you know?"

Yazoo nodded, then met Reno's gaze finally. He didn't look scared anymore. Just weary.

"Thank you."

Reno felt his throat constrict a little, and he nodded.

"Anytime."

* * *

My lovely reviewers 3

Valitiel: Yes, it's a very good thing! I think on the whole, Chicken is a pretty happy fish. He doesn't have to put up with too much loud stuff--just when Reno and his friends figure themselves to be KISS XD

natzilla:_ Yes, I worried myself a bit too. There are a lot of people waiting for this story's smut (you didn't hear it from me, but November is looking pretty good _o) so I wanted to throw a little bit in to tide you over ^_^ I hope this chapter didn't scare you too much (it is the Hallowe'en one after all)

Utena-Puchiko-nyu: Yeah, Hojo is and always will be a creep. Sorry _ (thank you for the kisses, I will keep them forever ^_^)

Queen Of The Potatoes: I love dressing Yazoo up. How can I not? The man is stunning in a paper sack XD Chicken feels the love, for sure. Keep hanging on baby--November update (the real one XD) holds some...uh...sexy tiemz?

fringeperson: Yeah, he really shouldn't ignore gut instinct. I think he's learned that lesson well now. Reno is a bit stunned by legs and shoes...

Black-Luna: Chicken loves you too!! There wasn't much of him in this chapter, but he'll be back next update.

IA1979: I did it for you baby! (the shoes) The bathroom was a fun little side that I had to weave in to keep the yaoilovers happy XD I'm sorry about Hojo...but he will get what he deserves. Creepy fuck.

chance969: you're most welcome! I know this update was (a day!!) late, november's has already been started, keep your eyes out for the next couple weeks. It should fulfill some more lovens too '_'

BMIK: D8 You're gonna eat CHICKEN!?! lol I have such a hard time NOT dressing up Yazoo, what can I say? So of course it had to be a drag contest so that Elena got to be Hugh. XD I clearly have too much sexxors in my imagination. I will, of course marry you.  
Yes, Chesty is Cid, Lug is Barret (Skimpy is still unrevealed, but he'll be aheh *introduced* soon. I hope I don't blow your mind...)  
I'm sorry about Hojo.

Jackidy: lol Yazoo was convinced by the shoes. He wanted to impress Reno. Elena definitely picked up on this weakness. Hope this chapter wasn't too scary!perv!hojo...next chapter soon ^_^

Denzi: *heart* thank you! Even in the early planning of this story, I knew there was going to be a Hallowe'en. My schedule just so happened for it to work out nicely...

I'm At My All Time Low: *Chicken in sunglasses*: oh yeah bitches XD Yazoo will never find out that Chicken thinks he a girl--this is why goldfish can't speak. Thank you (thankyouthankyou) for the encouragement, November update is soon!

**Thanks to everyone for reading (again) this month! 3 It's because of all the feedback that I keep inspired to write. You're all lovely!**


	9. The Party Concludes

AN: Oh my god, I can't believe how long it took for this update, please, a thousand pardons!

Thank you everyone for the constant support throughout my haitus time--I was suffering from a serious writer's block, and must extend my thanks to BMIK, RabiaZeph and MizahuraMas for their constant reminding, help and encouragement. I love you all.

Since it's been a while, here's a quick recap on where we are in the story. Hallowe'en night and Yazoo and Elena have performed in and won the drag show contest held at the Library's charity function. Reno and the boys went as Kiss to try to pick up some "scantily clad Hallowe'en ladies", but Reno finds himself strangely more attracted to the PlayBoy Bunny costume Yazoo wore--the legs and stilettos may have something to do with it. Yazoo gets assaulted by his not-so-charming Modern Genetics Professor, Hojo in the deserted bathroom, and seems like he'll be in real trouble until Reno shows up and scares the would-be-rapist off with his guitar-wielding skills. Reno and Yazoo head home after reporting the assault at the police station, and after Yazoo expresses his gratitude...

* * *

Reno watched Yazoo pull himself off the wall and head towards his room--even in this state, he didn't stumble in his stilettos. Reno followed to lean on his door frame, wiping at his Kiss makeup with a cloth from the kitchen. Yazoo shrugged out of his coat and let it drop to the floor.

"So you've been seeing Elena?" Reno asked, not really wanting to retire for the night so soon.

"Yeah, but just friends. Obviously." Yazoo laughed shortly, "No straight man would wear this, even as a Hallowe'en costume. I guess my secret's out to the whole school now..." He sat down on the bed, careful not to crush his tail. "God, what was I thinking?"

"You look good, yo." Reno shook his head and threw the cloth out into the living room after he'd finished cleaning off his face. "And you guys won the contest too."

"Yeah but--"

"Hey." Reno crossed to sit beside Yazoo on the bed. "Your Professor was out of line, totally. Even Playboy Bunnies have their standards. No one touches them without their permission, yeah?"

Yazoo turned to face him, a strange expression on his features. He nodded after a moment though, and his gaze fell towards the floor, noticing he still had his shoes on. He pulled one knee up to try to undo the clasp around his ankle, but he was just so exhausted...he didn't especially want to sleep in this. The corset, though not tied tightly or anything, was starting to feel constricting...

Yazoo jumped a little when Reno reached over and covered his hands with his own, stilling his jittery fingers on the clasp.

"Want some help?"

Yazoo's eyes were wide, and his mouth was dry. He couldn't really answer, so he just nodded instead. He moved his hands as Reno slid off the bed to face him, dropped down on one knee as he undid the clasp and slipped Yazoo's foot from the high arch. Reno paused, and Yazoo felt his cheeks flush, the reality of the situation crashing down on him suddenly. Reno was still holding the shoe in one hand, and Yazoo's calf was cupped in the other, Yazoo could feel his fingertips' every movement, every twitch.

Since when had time slowed down this much?!

"I can't believe you can walk in these Zoo."

"Uh, yeah...I--I had to pr-practice a lot." Yazoo wished that he wasn't blushing; that he didn't have to feel his pulse hammering in his chest; his stomach feeling practically in his throat. He became painfully aware of Reno's position when the redhead shifted to take his other foot, and felt the stir of arousal in his abdomen. Oh god, not good! Not with Reno _right_ there!!

Yazoo shifted away from Reno's hand, but too late. Reno's fingers were already caressing his ankle, his other hand brushing along the top of his foot, his focus intent on the way his foot arched along with the shoe. He undid the clasp, letting his fingers drift longer than necessary along the inside curve of Yazoo's ankle. With nothing short of reverence, he slid the stiletto from his foot, gently cradling his heel and exposing his toes, some of them poking through the holes in the fishnet stockings he wore.

"Fuck..." He swore under his breath, unable to restrain himself. Yazoo squirmed again, and he was finally brought out of his reverie to realise he was still holding onto Yazoo's foot, his fingers still traced the curve of his anklebone, his the inside arch of his foot. He released Yazoo's foot, but didn't rise.

There was a long pause between them and Reno was able to take in Yazoo's rapid breathing, the high colour on his cheeks. But neither of them moved. _Fuck._

"Hey Zoo." Reno whispered, but it felt like a shout between them.

"Y-yeah?"

"You need help with your corset too?"

Yazoo didn't want to say no, everything was telling him 'fuck yes. I want you to undo it with your fucking _teeth_' but there was that shred of doubt...

"R-reno..." Yazoo stammered, and he rolled himself towards the end of the bed, breaking the intense moment between them. He stared towards the floor, swallowing heavily. He couldn't feel like this now. Reno was just trying to help...just trying to...

Yazoo was unable to suppress the sigh as he felt Reno's hand trail lightly down his side. The redhead had followed him onto the bed again, his presence was warm behind him.

"I got it." Reno whispered, his hands already untying the laces along the back of his bustier. Yazoo's breath caught in his throat as he felt Reno's hands smooth along his shoulders as the pressure around his ribcage subsided. Then, there was a tangible pause where Reno's hands lingered on his skin longer than they needed to; where Yazoo breathed in and out once, twice. Reno's fingers stroked the base of his neck gently and Yazoo closed his eyes at the feeling.

"Reno." Yazoo said again, the effort to get even his name out was ridiculous. Reno's fingers stilled on his shoulders. To be honest, Yazoo didn't really want him to stop. He wanted him to keep going, especially since his touch felt so much unlike his professor's...in fact, he hadn't actually thought about what had just happened to him.

Yazoo pulled away a bit, and Reno's hands slipped from his shoulders.

"Can I tell you something?" Yazoo asked.

"Sure."

Yazoo took a moment to take a deep breath. He needed to get this out.

"I--I'm not sure if you mean anything by this, but I mean, I'm not..." He worried at his bottom lip for a second. God, he hoped he wasn't wrong, "I mean, you know I'm gay Reno. And you do stuff like this, even when you know. If...if you don't mean anything by it, then that's fine, but I can't really handle you...touching me like this...if you don't." He paused, but Reno was silent behind him. He continued, if only to fill the silence. "What I really mean is, I...like you. And don't want you to--" He took a sharp breath and wondered if he could say it. "...stop."

Yazoo was afraid that that was it. That few minutes of contact would be all that he'd have to fuel his fantasies for the next little while, and that he'd have to get rid of this ridiculous crush for good--find someone less straight for next time. The pause dragged on, and soon he'd have to move, and ask Reno to leave so he could finish getting ready for bed.

But then he felt Reno's hand sneak back the length of his arm. Yazoo shivered.

"So you don't want me to stop?" Reno's voice sounded amused at Yazoo's reaction and his fingertips stroked lazily along the back of Yazoo's neck. "Then I won't."

_But you aren't gay, you like girls..._ A silent voice at the back of Yazoo's head remembered this, but it really didn't seem all that important at the moment.

"Ah..." Came out instead as Reno dipped his head to press his lips against the base of Yazoo's neck. Yazoo felt his skin flush and blood drain to pool around his abdomen. It was...happening.

"Fuck Zoo," Reno swore quietly and brushed back Yazoo's hair behind his ear, "You looked so incredible tonight. I mean, you always look good but--"

Yazoo turned to face Reno, and for the first time saw the lust spark in his eyes.

"You thought I looked hot?" He raised his eyebrow with a smirk. It was amusing to see Reno in this new light--they'd teased each other before, but now, Yazoo didn't have to tease. He could actually follow through with this...

"Fuck yeah. I mean, dammit Zoo, I've never seen--a guy's legs..." Reno was starting to get flustered. Yazoo laughed. Poor straight boy.

"You like my legs." Yazoo turned completely on his hands and knees and Reno scooted backwards further onto the bed. "We've established this. I also know you like..." Yazoo sat down on Reno's knees and stretched his legs infront of him, tucking his toes underneath Reno's thighs. "My feet." Reno's breath hissed in as he felt Yazoo's toes underneath him. "So they weren't just making fun of you, you really do have a foot fet--"

"Okay, okay, yes I do..." Reno admitted, smoothing his hands along the long fishnet-clad legs that were displayed just for him. He reached the base of Yazoo's thighs and his hands slowed, and he glanced up to Yazoo's face again.

The night was full of pauses, but this one was more than before, because this one would start it all.

Yazoo leaned down and Reno stretched up, neither one of them could be blamed fully for the kiss that met in the middle. It was simply that at first, until Yazoo pressed a little harder, sucked the first air in through his nostrils, felt Reno's hands climb higher on his thighs. Reno parted his lips, licking along Yazoo's until he felt his roommate respond and opened his mouth to him. The kiss lasted on.

It wasn't much different than kissing a girl, Reno decided, except it was Yazoo. And he could almost feel the bend in his willowy spine every time he ran his tongue along the roof of his mouth, or slid together with Zoo's...

The first moan came from Reno.

Yazoo had curled his hand around the base of his neck and dragged his fingertips up through his hair, combing through it lightly. It was something that he had wanted to do for so long--the redhead's messy hairstyle just begged to have someone run their fingers through it. And now it finally got to be him...

Reno broke the kiss to follow his fingers along Yazoo's neck with his lips. He decided he very much liked the way that Yazoo gasped when he bit his earlobe, and the small whimpers that he could only hear this close as his lips travelled over his collarbone. Reno's hands were not idle. One hand made its way up those long thighs to rest along the edge of his blue bustier. He could feel the fur of his tail along the back of his hand and he laughed into Yazoo's neck.

"Fucking...Playboy Bunny."

"Hey shut up," Yazoo smiled, wiggling backwards into Reno's hand, prompting the redhead to squeeze his butt. He groaned shortly, "maybe it was all part of my devious plan to seduce you."

"Fuck yeah. What's the rest of your plan?" Reno grinned, feeling his arousal twitch at the devious look Yazoo gave him.

"The rest of my plan." Yazoo shifted from Reno's knees, leaning down to kiss Reno's throat, his shoulder. He pulled at the hem of Reno's shirt, and the redhead quickly got the hint, pulling it off quickly in a fluid motion. Reno's hands found their way into Yazoo's hair as Yazoo continued to kiss and lick at his skin, he jolted a little when Yazoo playfully sucked at a nipple.

"Fuck..."

Yazoo looked up with a smirk, enjoying Reno's reaction to him. He grasped one of Reno's hands, lifting it to his own chest, watching Reno's expression as he felt along the flat, smooth fabric of the silky bustier. Reno hissed a breath inwards. Yazoo was most definitely _not_ a girl.

"You gonna help me out of it or not?" Yazoo asked, guiding Reno's hands towards the zipper along the side. The feel of Reno's hands along his sides as they smoothed the fitted top away from his skin felt amazing. Yazoo's breath hitched as Reno's fingers danced back over his chest.

Which now left him in nothing but the matching blue bottoms and fishnet stockings.

Yazoo felt his cheeks heating up again, mostly because Reno had stopped, and was just _looking_ at him...fuck, do something...

Yazoo pulled himself closer to Reno, kissing him deeply again as their skin slid together for the first time. Reno's chest was warm and much tanner compared to Yazoo's, and Yazoo found a pert nipple again, rubbing it between his fingers. Reno gasped again, and his back arched upwards into Yazoo.

Yazoo chuckled, but his laugh turned to a moan when Reno returned the gesture, hands getting bolder as they moved across his skin. Reno's fingers got so far as to tuck into the top of those little blue bottoms and underneath the waistband of his fishnet stockings. Yazoo squirmed in Reno's lap when he squeezed the smooth flesh hidden beneath the last of his clothes. The small shift forward made contact with Reno's growing erection, and the redhead pulled Yazoo in closer to keep him there. Yazoo gasped as the hands around his buttocks tightened. Reno held them together, and Yazoo had no way to hide his arousal, but then again, judging by Reno's, he didn't really have to.

"Fuck," Yazoo swore as Reno's tongue encircled his nipple, "Reno..."

The redhead's reply to this was to look up and grin cheekily as his hands smoothed those little blue bottoms down to Yazoo's thighs.

"I wanna see you Zoo..."

Yazoo blushed furiously, but the look on Reno's face made him sure that he was being serious. Yazoo slid off Reno's lap for a moment, the fishnet stockings leaving tiny crisscrossed patterns on his legs as he rolled them off. Reno watched with rapt attention, a hand lingering on Yazoo's hip. He snuck up behind Yazoo, his covered erection pressing into Yazoo's backside and he kissed and licked at Yazoo's neck.

"Ah, Reno, I--"

"What do I have to do? Fuck, I wanna touch you..."

Even through the haze of arousal, Yazoo remembered that of course, Reno had never been with another guy before...this helped tone down the blush on his cheeks somewhat.

"Then touch me." He said, craning his neck to look over his shoulder. His hand covered Reno's on his hip, and pulled it forward, stomach clenching and breath held.

Reno's touch was tentative at first, but the feeling of his hand on Yazoo's cock was almost too much for Yazoo. He let out his breath slowly, fingers tight around Reno's wrist.

"Touch me like you touch yourself Reno..." He whispered, the heat between them seemed to increase with the first slow stroke. Yazoo's hips jerked forward into Reno's palm and he stifled a moan. He could feel Reno pull himself closer to him from behind, felt how hard he was as his arms wrapped around him and his hand jerked him off.

Yazoo had to close his eyes. It could so easily be a dream (mind you, one of the best he'd ever had) but for the slight hesitations, the unsurety of Reno's actions. Made him realise that it was happening. Actually happening.

"That's really g-good..." He whispered encouragingly, and he felt Reno's palm squeeze more firmly along his erection. He bit his bottom lip as Reno's strokes became faster, more confident. His other hand snuck around to join the first, gently fondling his balls. Yazoo doubled over, supporting himself and subsequently Reno on one hand infront of him. He moaned again, feeling Reno buck into him at the change in their position.

"This is really...you're so hot Zoo." Reno's breath was warm in his ear, and his hand had found a steady rhythm. Yazoo's cheeks were flushed and his breath came in shorter gasps. It really wasn't going to take long...

"Re-Reno..."

_Press._

"Y-yeah?"

"Going to...!"

Reno hadn't changed speed, in fact, Yazoo thought he sped up at the warning. His cheeks burned bright red and he arched backwards into Reno as he came. He would have been awfully embarrassed for the short time it had taken him to finish if it weren't for the encouraging moans from Reno and the tongue that slid around the shell of his ear. Yazoo shivered.

Yazoo stilled Reno's wrist with his hand, holding him, enjoying the pause when Reno simply held him, felt his breath along his naked shoulder as they crouched together on his bed. He was able to recover relatively quickly though, shifting backwards enough to make Reno hiss as he rubbed up against him.

"How come..." Yazoo asked, looking over his shoulder, "You still have your pants on?"

Reno made a lovely choked sound of agreement, and they straightened together. Reno's mouth found Yazoo's again as he turned in his arms, long adept fingers sliding the leather waistband over his hips and freed his erection. Reno moaned as Yazoo stroked his hand up his bare thigh to the base of his cock.

"Zoo--"

"Shh. I know what I'm doing." Yazoo smirked at the look on Reno's face. It was somewhere in between lust and shell shock. Yazoo didn't think he'd ever seen Reno blush like the way he did when his hand wrapped around his erection, but it wasn't something he'd mind getting used to. Reno's hips jerked in time to the long strokes and Yazoo felt the arousal heat up in his belly again. They kissed again, and Yazoo couldn't help but think that perhaps Reno was the best kisser he'd come across--likely honed by practice, but of course, that really didn't matter. Right now, he was kissing Yazoo; his tongue flicking teasingly into his mouth, curling around Yazoo's to dare him to be more forward.

More forward? Yazoo's palm squeezed slightly tighter around Reno's erection and the redhead moaned, breaking the kiss. He was panting a little, but still managed to grin slyly as his hand trailed down Yazoo's sides to rest finally just below the curve of Yazoo's ass. Yazoo jerked forward, pressing their bodies against each other.

"Ha...w-would you like something Reno?" He managed with a small chuckle, but couldn't help the tingle of excitement when Reno grinned wider and pulled him closer in, his fingers brushing _oh so close_ along his backside.

"Do you...do you have any condoms in here?" Reno's voice was husky and his fingers became more daring and Yazoo squirmed against Reno's warm chest, a blush breaking across his cheeks. Yazoo nodded, dropping down onto one hand as he reached over to his nightstand. He let out a moan as Reno took advantage of his new position to slide a finger between the cheeks of his ass--as if he had to clarify exactly what he was asking to do...

Reno followed behind Yazoo, keeping him in the crouched over position he was in to reach the nightstand, his hand covering Yazoo's and the small square foil within. Yazoo gasped as he felt Reno's erection press against his backside and he felt Reno's hips shift closer, tighter in towards him.

"Mmm, is this what you had in mind?" Yazoo laughed breathily, as he felt Reno's lips on his shoulder.

"Fuck yeah..." Reno smirked and drew them up together again, letting out a low moan at the friction along his erection as they moved. Yazoo passed the condom into Reno's hand and looked at him over his shoulder. Reno's smirk got wider and as he peeled open the foil, Yazoo dropped back down to his elbows, lifting his ass into the air.

"Godammit Zoo..." Reno swore a little at the sight, fumbling with the condom. How the hell had he gotten so flustered so quickly? Then he realized that Yazoo hadn't quite done it for the sole purpose of presenting himself. Another look over his shoulder as he passed back a small bottle also retrieved from the nightstand. Reno felt his cheeks redden a little.

"Uh..."

"You've never done this before. It's okay." Yazoo smiled, his voice low and a sultry yet patient look in his eyes. "I'll talk you through it."

Fuck if that wasn't a hot proposition... Reno rolled the condom on, careful not to stroke himself too hard--that last declaration from Yazoo was almost enough to make him come, and how embarrassing would that be?!

"Warm some up in your hands..." Yazoo rested himself back down on the sheet, able to look over his shoulder at Reno as the redhead popped open the lid of the bottle and got some of the lubricant in his hands. He rubbed them together, feeling the cold liquid warm up quickly.

"It's...it's been a while, so I'm going to need you to..." Yazoo's cheeks reddened, but he needed to let Reno know how gentle he had to be, "Going to need you to stretch me a bit...with your fingers..."

Reno gulped at Yazoo's flushed features and words that really shouldn't have been as hot as they were.

"Right..." He said, amazed that his vocal chords were able to work, and he sat behind Yazoo, one hand on that firm ass and the other; fingertip pressed around the outside of his opening. He heard Yazoo gasp and flet the slight press backwards as he slipped his finger in, and felt his erection throb at the clench of the tight ring of muscle around his digit.

"A-all the way in..." Yazoo instructed breathily, and though Reno pretty much knew that already, he didn't object to the directions. Not when they sounded like that. Reno had had a lot of sex--granted, never with a guy (and never having that strange bubbling excitement that he felt now) so had a basic idea of what to do here. He smirked as he slowly began to thrust in and out with his finger, feeling Yazoo twitch underneath him. As Yazoo gasped heavily, Reno felt him relax, and the motions of his hand became easier.

"You ready for another?" His tone was low and Yazoo moaned an answer. It seemed he couldn't quite form the word yes...

Yazoo turned his face into the sheets as Reno pressed another digit inside. It had been quite a while, and the burn was manageable, but there. But the warmth of the body behind him, the earnest touches, the guttural sounds of _Reno_. Reno was doing this, and that made it all worth it.

"Ah yes! Now...t-twist the--" Yazoo's body spasmed as Reno followed the directions right away and his fingers brushed up against that tiny spot inside Yazoo. "Oh god..." He moaned, his fingers clenching in sheets beside his head. Reno was shocked for a moment, then became quite fascinated by this response. So he did it again.

Yazoo called out again, his hips thrusting backwards towards Reno, the pain forgotten as Reno brushed against his prostate.

"M-more..." He managed to plead and Reno added another finger, the process faster now as Yazoo pushed back onto his fingers and moaned greedily. The sight of him--nearly drove Reno over the edge. Fuck, he had to get inside...

"Yazoo..., you're so hot, can I, I mean, are you ready?" Reno asked, his thoughts all jumbled by the visual stimulus.

"Yes, yes, so ready...yes." Yazoo muttered, and he gasped at the loss of Reno's fingers, but knew by the strong hands that gripped his hips and the press of the tip of Reno's erection against his ass, that he would feel much more satisfied.

The press inwards and forwards was slow, Reno listening carefully to Yazoo hiss and the tense muscles beneath his fingertips. A sheen of sweat broke out between the two of them, and Reno raised one hand to caress along Yazoo's back, to get him to relax again, and to still his own nerves.

The heat was incredible, Reno's world had narrowed to just around this bed, just around his cock, and Yazoo's gorgeous lithe back, his perfect skin. He could practically feel his pulse from inside...

Reno moaned, Yazoo sighed and there was a moment--another one--where there was simply the warmth, the feeling of being ensheathed, of being filled, and Yazoo relaxed.

"Reno..." Yazoo whispered as the moment extended, "...it's okay, you can...move..."

And he did, and they breathed together, gasped together as Reno thrust forward, slowly as first, then building longer, deeper. Harder.

Reno's fingers tightened on Yazoo's hips as he pulled them together sharply, and he felt one of Yazoo's hands curl over his, felt Yazoo pushing back against him just as hard. Reno closed his eyes and sunk in again. Fuck, this felt perfect!

Yazoo's moans and cries spurred Reno on, his pace accelerating until the soft slap of skin against skin slick with sweat was overpowered by the mutual noises of lust. Reno felt the heat and tension building in his gut, felt his balls tighten as he thrust forward powerfully, was so good...

"Reno...Reno, Reno..." Yazoo gasped, pulling at Reno's hand to reach around to his own renewed erection, encouraging him to stroke it in time with his thrusts, "Please...fuck yes, right there, Reno...Reno..."

Reno rocked into Yazoo again, finding that same angle. He could tell from the arch in Yazoo's spine and the sharp vocalizations that he'd found that spot inside again, and he felt Yazoo come again--over his palm and onto the sheets.

Yazoo's muscles rippled around him, and as he thrust faster inside, it felt tighter, hotter and he knew it couldn't last much longer.

"Fuck Reno..." Yazoo muttered, rocking with him, even as he came down from his second orgasm, "So good, so hot...come for me Reno." He shot a look over his shoulder, self-satisfied and smug yet so innocent and open...

Reno would have come from the words alone.

He thrust in one final time, his fingers were sure to leave marks on Yazoo's hips before collapsing forward to rest his forehead on Yazoo's shoulder.

They fell together onto the bed where they lay sprawled, panting, breathing together.

"G-goddamn, Zoo..." Reno muttered into Yazoo's skin, still hot and flushed. A slight shift, he was still inside him.

"Aahn..." Yazoo gasped, the feeling of Reno's weight on top of him strangely satisfying as he caught his breath. "I...think I know the feeling." He smiled and very slowly, encouraged Reno to roll with him. It was a sort of empty feeling as Reno slid out of him, but a fair trade for being able to pull himself up to Reno's chest, and tuck his head onto Reno's collarbone and listen to his heartbeat slow.

Reno reached down and pulled the condom off his softening cock, reaching for a tissue to wad it into from the nightstand. He didn't even know if he hit the garbage can (he'd be surprised if he did, considering how much akin to jelly he felt) but figured he could clean up in the morning...

"Zoo...?"

"Mm, yeah?"

"Why the fuck didn't we...you know, do that sooner?"

"Cause you're straight. Now go to sleep...it's been a long day..." Yazoo's words were muffled against his chest, his eyes already closed, fingers curled lightly around his shoulder.

"Right..." Reno's eyelids felt heavy, but he couldn't help but chuckle a little at Yazoo's explanation. Most straight guys didn't sleep with their gay roommates. But then again, nothing really made much sense, and it would be easier to think things clearly in the morning...so tired now.

"Night 'Zoo." Reno mumbled, an arm coming to rest around Yazoo's side and he closed his eyes, falling asleep very soon after he got a sleepy "hm" as a reply.

* * *

Chicken swam in excited circles in his tank.

His owner had claimed her mate! The flashy male had done it! Soon there would be little landfish spawning all over the habitat, and the colour would be spectacular! Silver and red, probably some of the mating colours of blue and black in there too--oh how exciting would that be?!

It had been a loud ritual, yes, but as the habitat became dark again, Chicken couldn't help but feel as though his owner had made real progress, and couldn't help but wonder if the landfish species mated for life, or if the tricky mating rituals and status dances would be over for the time being...

He swam back into his castle to rest again, wondering how long landfish eggs gestated for.

* * *

review replies:

chibiweasel: thank you! gosh, it means a lot to translate my story--I'm so glad you take the time!!

fantasi88: haha! I don't think Chicken will go belly up, he seems quite pleased! Keep checking abck for more updates soon!

PoppetlurvesZexion: aww, thank you! Chicken loves you too!

Kataru: I love AUs too--and college ones are quite fun to write ^_^

keeda: I hope you like this chapter too!

keedahartzjam: Thank you!!

Tackytoast: Omg you named your fish Chicken too!? *humbled* gaaaaw, thank you! Yeah, Hojo is a creepy, creepy man. Your friend knows the foreshadowing xD

Hammeh: hee hee, well, there's smut now XD Wow, what an honour, thank you so much for taking the time to read outside your genre! /hug

Reno-is-a-Turk: Haha! It seems he's very predictable, no? /squish Thank you darling! I'm glad you enjoy!

Lenko: :3 thank you so much!! I try to keep a progression in the story that seems natural...thankyouthankyou ^_^ I love Reno's grandma too... 3 Thanks for your patience for an update, there will be more soon!!

Silverinumiko: haha, it's one of my favourite pairings too! Thank you!!

Akito Megumi: Yay! Chicken has so many friends lol. Thanks for reading!

dark cat Smith: I'd love to go to Belize someday...maybe you know Yazoo's parents? lol

Kay: Haven't stopped--just brain failure, that's all! Hope you will keep reading!

IA1979: Yay! *revives you* There will be more foot love, what can I say? I'm so glad you love it too ^_^ Thank you darling, for you continued support, I'm sure my next update won't be three months down the road. lol I hope the TLC is what you were looking for!! :3

RinaLuffsPokemonBoys: forgive me for the UBERLATE update D8 I'm a horrible person, I hope you'll continue reading! lovelove!

Suvu: I'm glad I finally have more for you to read!!

Black Luna: Thank you! I hope you liked this one too!

DoublleL: hopefully no one will eat chicken! D8 Yazoo and his killer heels will defend his poor little fish 3

Anne Voda Hijme: ha..ha.._ As I said, writer's block hit hard...I must apologise profusely for the delay. Thanks for the support, and I hope you'll keep reading!

governor fink: gaaaaw, thank you so much! (I know about the foot thing, seriously xD) I hope renzoo smut will make up for the HUGE delay /hug

fringeperson: Yes, I agree, he should be thrown in jail. Hojo behind bars is the only good kind of hojo. lol Thanks for reviewing!!

Denzi: and you're very sweet for leaving a review, thank you!

BMIK: yes dear, much "consoling" *coughcough* going on here now...XD Thank you so much darling for your help with this chapter!!

Jackidy: Elena will forever haunt your dreams now. lol Zoo wasn't so much a damsel in distress as he couldn't really run away in the heels...but those heels have a purpose, and that is to seduce Reno , dammit! Hence why he came 'a runnin'. XD

Utena-Puchiko-Nyu: Yes, he's very creepy, I agree. Good gut instincts! I hope this action has been what you were looking for! 3

Natzilla: thank you darling!! I hope you can get the fix you need from this chapter--there will be more now that I've gotten over my writer's block! 3

I'm at my all time low: We need chuck norris to come in and kick hojo around a bit, I think. I did have a good hallowe'en, and christmas...and new years...and valentine's day... /sigh I'm so late with this...

queenofpotaoes: lol! the only way to spend hallowe'en, of course!! Thank you so much for the review! I hope you like this chapter too!

Wow, so thank everyone for reviewing, reading, encouraging and WAITING! You guys are all awesome! Stay tuned for more!!


	10. The Situation Complicates

Yazoo opened his eyes, blinking them shut again a moment later. He'd fallen asleep with the light on, and it was very disorienting. What time was it? He turned his head, but upon doing so, he realized where he'd been laying. A chest. A warm chest. Time forgotten, he turned to regard the face of the owner of this chest.

Reno...

His lower back twitched, which caused him to remember vividly the night before. His breath caught in his throat as his backside throbbed a bit in protest.

Oh yeah, that would hurt for a bit.

He looked over Reno (still sleeping, hand curled around his shoulders) to see his alarm clock. Seven-thirty in the morning. It was still much earlier than Reno would ever get up, especially on a Sunday. Yazoo lowered himself back down to Reno's chest, felt the redhead shift ever so slightly underneath him as his arm pulled around him tighter-only to relax again when Yazoo settled.

For someone so used to one night stands, it seemed Reno was quite good at cuddling too.

Yazoo's fingers twisted absentmindedly around Reno's elbow, drawing small circles as he woke up.

What happened now?

Yazoo hadn't really planned this far. Never expected Reno to reciprocate any feelings as far as this. How on earth was he supposed to act now? He knew Reno didn't do "girlfriends", but did that mean that he was just like all those other girls too? But he LIVED with him. It would have to be different...and he really, really did want to sleep with him again. The sex had been amazing, and it wasn't just because it had been so long since Yazoo had had sex...

In fact, it had been before he had left for school that he and his last boyfriend had broken up. Vincent had moved to England for school on a scholarship, and they'd both agreed that the long distance wouldn't be for either of them. Yazoo shifted again, trying to will the slight burn away. That had been almost three and a half years ago...Geez, he really had needed to get laid...

Yazoo managed to slide out from underneath Reno's arm, slipping off the edge of the bed before carefully folding the blankets back up over Reno, watching him for a moment as his roommate snuggled into his bed with a soft sigh. He really was so very crush-worthy.

He had to stop himself from skipping to the kitchen-it had been a long time since he'd woken up feeling so satisfied, and though he'd love to prolong the snuggle session in bed with Reno, the morning would probably progress smoother with breakfast made.

Reno was always in a better mood when he'd been fed, and really, it was in Yazoo's best interest for this particular morning to go well.

He opened the fridge, a strange sense of inspiration washing over him as he perused the contents of the shelves. He pulled down the oats and brown sugar, his gaze passing over the apples on the kitchen table. He glanced back at the door to his room, wondering how long Reno would sleep this morning, but decided to chance it anyway.

Reno always was a deep sleeper after all.

Yazoo hummed quietly to himself as he chopped up the apples, and couldn't help but think over the night before again. He gave himself goosebumps as he thought about Reno's hands, about his lips caressing his skin, about how incredible it felt when he fit inside him. His knees felt weak and he leaned up against the counter. This was bad, he was in quite deep. He didn't even know how Reno felt-he shouldn't be allowing himself to feel so woozy and gushy after one (very incredible and phenomenal) night!

He refused to think about it and slid the pie tin into the oven and went to feed his fish as he waited for breakfast to bake.

Chicken swam in tight circles at his arrival, seeming happier than usual as he leapt about an inch above the surface of the bowl with a soft 'plop'. Yazoo smiled and poked his finger in the water, brushing up against Chicken's long tailfin.

"You really are a smart fish...it's like you're happiest when I'm happiest. Strange. You wouldn't think a goldfish of all animals would pick up on anything like that..." He cooed softly at the fishbowl and couldn't help but feel grateful for the kiss on the other side of the glass. He straightened again and headed back to the kitchen to put on some coffee.

* * *

Chicken was starting to think that his owner was trying to communicate with him. He wished so much that she could speak his language of bubbles and flicks, and was desperately trying to tell her how proud he was of her and the red male. Maybe it meant that the other, louder males would stop frequenting the habitat, or if the appearance of the strange sickly females would drop off also.

Chicken was ecstatic that he'd managed to communicate his joy for her through the leap and the tailspins, even putting off his food until he heard the soft cooing of her voice.

As he watched her head back to the food preparation center, he caught a drifting flake in his mouth to bring it back to his castle. He wondered when the red male would emerge, and if anything different would be apparent.

Would they nest? Would they parent together? Or was this another complicated ritual before the actual act of mating-having selected their potential mate.

Judging by the soft humming, the utensil spinning and the number of times the female stopped to stare at the large pane of light on the wall, Chicken was sure that things would go well eventually anyway.

* * *

Reno stirred when the weight settled back down on the bed, along with the delightful smell of coffee and something appley, cinnamony and warm. It was the right combination to stir his senses and bring his eyes open. It was a little disorienting at first. The light was different-the window was on the wrong side of the room. And the colour was different, and the dresser, and clothes and...oh.

He looked over with one eye open to confirm the weight on the bed.

"Morning Zoo..." He mumbled.

"Morning. Coffee and breakfast?"

"Mmpfh." Reno grunted, but pulled himself up to sitting, his hair tousled and his eyes sticky. "Breakfast in bed is a bit unusual, isn't it?"

Yazoo paused for a moment, he didn't want the morning to be awkward. Reno hadn't been drunk the night before, and everything had been completely consensual for both of them. So why was he so nervous bringing up the fact that they'd slept together? It was pretty obvious. They were in fact in Yazoo's room, on Yazoo's bed, and Reno was naked and sticky. Not that hard to piece together.

"You've never woken up in my bed before...so I thought I would treat you." Yazoo said quietly, gaging Reno's reaction.

"I suppose I haven't." Reno admitted, pulling the blankets up a little on his torso to allow the tray to settle on his lap. "What's this? Apple crisp?" He sounded very pleasantly surprised.

"Yeah, well, I was inspired this morning."

Reno looked up from the breakfast tray, their eyes meeting.

"Hey Zoo?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For this...for last night...I mean, I never. I never thought...until..." He paused. "I may be bad at saying stuff like this..."

"Like what?" Yazoo tried not to be worried. Reno's tone wasn't the same panicked tone he'd get with girls in the morning. He just hoped he wasn't going to be getting any version of 'the talk'.

"That it was hot. Really hot."

"...There's not a 'but' coming up, is there?"

Reno paused, looking surprised.

"No. I mean, we're still living together right? You're not going to kick me out cause I had mind blowing sex with you last night...right?" Now it was Reno's turn to look worried until Yazoo smacked his shoulder.

"Right, like that would happen."

"Well, I guess I didn't think about it much last night...I mean, who could when you were dressed like _that_ and had _that_ fine ass waggling around the bedroom, but like, I like living with you...still. And..."

"I see what you mean Reno, you are bad at saying stuff like this." Yazoo laughed, putting Reno at ease. "Don't say anything else. Because you're going to get way too deep way too fast, for both of us. Eat your breakfast, and how about we see what kinds of things change now that you know I can dress like _that_ and that my ass is _that _fine, okay?"

"Yeah." Reno sighed, looking relieved. He paused, his first forkful of breakfast halfway up to his mouth. "So...does last night make me gay?"

Yazoo looked at him for a moment, noted the genuine concern, and burst of laughing.

"It might. But that's only if you take into consideration the stuff you were saying-" Reno turned bright red, so Yazoo placated him. "You can't deny the fact that you did...you know...sleep with another guy, but labels like 'gay' and 'heterosexual' are way too black and white for anyone. It's not a question I'm going to pretend I can answer for you, nor does it necessarily need an answer Reno..."

Reno nodded, smiling a little.

"So...maybe things around here can stay the same-ish? I mean, mostly?"

"I think we have had a pretty decent relationship prior to sleeping together to base a relatively healthy and normal co-habitation on, yes." Yazoo agreed, teasing only a little.

"I mean, but maybe you can wear those shoes around a little more often...?"

Yazoo considered the request, but couldn't help his smile from widening.

"Only when we don't have guests over Reno."

* * *

The day went relatively well, and it wasn't until evening, when they were getting ready for bed did any sort of difficulty arise. Yazoo was in his room, changing. He had an early morning class the next morning, and needed to be in bed by a certain time. But he was definitely on his way to being distracted from his schedule by the lingering redheaded shadow outside his door. He had tried not to address the issue, he wasn't sure if it was wise to at the moment, but the butterflies that erupted in his stomach each time he thought about maybe asking Reno in to sleep together again would have made it impossible to fall asleep anyway.

"Reno...?" His voice was smaller than he wanted it to be.

"Yeah?" The response was faster than he thought it'd be too. Reno had been lingering around his door for the last half hour. Pacing between the bookshelves and the livingroom; finding things to pretend to do. Yazoo steeled himself.

"Somewhat odd question. But...where are you sleeping tonight?"

Pause.

"Um...not odd at all, really. I was wondering..."

"I have to get up pretty early tomorrow."

"I don't wake up too easily. But I mean, if you're worried about anything, I can just..."

"Did you want to sleep in here with me?" Yazoo managed, just coming out with it.

Another pause.

"Do YOU want me to?"

Yazoo caught himself blushing, and it was that moment that just made everything so very apparent that their mentalities had regressed back to highschool.

"You know the only thing missing from this conversation? A friend who passes a note with that question and a 'check this box if yes, and this box if no' choice." Yazoo laughed. "We're adults...or we're supposed to be, right?"

"Well yeah, but I mean, I've never been in this situation before..."

"You think I have?" Yazoo rebutted, "I mean, I usually date gay guys. And they are even few and far between."

Reno nodded, admitting that point.

"I would like you to sleep in here with me tonight, yes. There I said it. I also have to be up early for class, and if you think it's going to be a problem allowing me to get enough sleep tonight so that I don't fall asleep during my lecture, I'd love for you to feel comfortable doing that. I mean...is that okay?" Yazoo pulled an old t-shirt over his head and pulled his hair back into a quick ponytail before turning back to Reno.

Reno was leaning on his doorframe, just watching him.

"How is it that you can do that?" He asked.

"Do what?

"Just be able to come out and say it, make everything so damn logical and simple..."

"I'm studying to be a neurosurgeon. Compared to that, everything should be simple." Yazoo joked.

Reno pushed himself off the doorframe and sauntered inside Yazoo's room, looking only a little more comfortable doing so.

"You have another point." He smiled, sitting down on the corner of Yazoo's bed. "I suppose I can say that I also would like to be able to sleep in here with you tonight too then. I mean...I don't do this kind of stuff often..."

"And by kind of stuff you mean?"

"Mushy stuff. Cuddling. 'Sleeping'. ...Whatever this is."

So Reno was feeling something too. Yazoo's stomach jittered again, but he was determined not to ruin anything by saying something too soon.

"You sleep all the time though Reno..." He evaded, turning again to his nightstand, away from the redhead so he couldn't see the deep blush.

"Yeah. I guess..."

Yazoo heard Reno unbuckling his belt, and there was another pause. It almost seemed like it was too familiar, too routine-so he kept turned until he heard Reno slip under the covers, and it took a lot to calm his nerves before he turned around again.

He climbed in beside Reno, a silence between them that seemed to say much more than either one of them was able to at the moment. There were so many things Yazoo wanted to say, to ask, to have confirmed. But he couldn't... not yet. Not if there was even the slightest chance that Reno would say the wrong thing.

"...Well..." Yazoo started, but didn't finish. That silence was still overpowering whatever words he wanted to say.

"You...wanna turn out the light?" Reno suggested.

"Um, yeah. Sorry." Yazoo leaned over and flicked the light off. It seemed like he was lying there forever, the butterflies having amassed into a frustrated swarm in his stomach. He didn't know how long it had been before he asked, his voice very small.

"...So what exactly does this mean...?"

He looked over, eyes having adjusted to the dark. He didn't get an answer from the sleeping Reno. Damn.

* * *

Reno wasn't awakened by Yazoo's morning routine the next day, despite Yazoo closing the dresser drawers maybe a little bit harder than he usually did, or opening and closing the door a few more times than was necessary. Yazoo really did want to ask Reno where he stood. But really didn't want to seem like he was getting too hung up on one night of sex and one night of...well, just sleeping together. What had last night meant? The night before had been obvious, sex, and enough of it to knock them both out nearly comatose with sensation. But just sleeping together meant something else entirely...sort of.

Yazoo was frustrated, and was almost late for class that morning.

Going back to school meant that he also had to realize the events of Saturday night with his professor again. Professor Hojo was conspicuously absent, and Yazoo noticed there were a few more stares in his direction than normal. News travelled fast.

He felt uncomfortable going through the halls to his lecture, seeing the crowd of students outside of the labs Hojo usually held his classes in, hearing the suppositions in the conversations they were having over the cancelled schedule.

He rushed to his lecture hall, and was determined not to let it get to him.

The day, however, destined not to let him do that though.

Halfway through the lecture, he had nearly forgotten about the students outside the lab, and the events of Saturday night by the comforting topic of precision surgeries, when to his horror, he was called out of the classroom by the dean of the university.

"Yazoo Delta?" The prof by the whiteboards had said when the dean had entered and not-so-discreetly pulled the teacher aside. "You can catch up on the rest of the notes later. Dean Shinra needs to speak with you. Yazoo had sunk in his seat a little, and he heard from the row behind him a girl whisper to her desk partner "do you think it's about Hojo?" before stuffing his laptop back in his case and leaving as quickly as possible with Rufus Shinra.

"Sorry to pull you out of class Mr. Delta." Shinra apologized, leading the way away from the lecture hall. The corridors were almost empty, save for a few stray students, so that, at least, was a small comfort. "I'm sure you know what this is about..."

"I have a suspicion Sir, yes."

"I would have waited to speak with you more privately, were it not for the fact that the Police have contacted me. You did file charges against Professor Hojo, is that correct?"

"I did Sir," Yazoo affirmed, wishing that Dean Shinra would get them to his office more quickly. He really didn't want to be talking about this here... "Saturday night. They have a full account of what happened..."

"Yes, as they have informed me. I know I don't have to tell you that the University supports you in your stand, and has no tolerance for any behaviour like that that was displayed by Professor Hojo."

"Of course Sir." Yazoo frowned, this wasn't news, and definitely not worth pulling him out of class.

"And I'm sure you've noticed that Professor Hojo has been suspended, at least officially."

"Officially? What does that mean, exactly?"

"Well, he's disappeared. Didn't show up to summons, nor was he found by police. There has been an official report filed since it is over twenty four hours that he has been missing, and there is a warrant out for his arrest. We've not been able to reach him by phone nor email since the incident."

Yazoo felt a bit of cold apprehension trickle down his spine.

"So...?" He felt he could also guess why he'd been pulled from class now.

"Well Yazoo, we want to ensure your safety as well, especially if Hojo is at large because of this, and we have reasons to believe that he may come back looking to contact you."

Yazoo stiffened, but Rufus Shinra continued.

"Police went to his home, after the charges were filed. When he didn't answer, they returned with a warrant to search his home." Shinra looked uncomfortable. "It seems that Hojo may have developed an unhealthy obsession with you. They found...pictures..."

Yazoo really didn't want to hear this, and it felt like the pit of his stomach had dropped out from underneath him during the explanation. He held up a hand, not knowing if he could handle the details.

"I think I get the gist."

"I would like to assure you Mr. Delta that the University will go to any means necessary to help you in your situation."

Yazoo realized that the Dean was probably worried about the negative impact of having employed a professor that would go to sexually assault a student. He nodded.

"Thank you Dean Shinra." He felt like he was shaking a little at the news. "And I don't hold the University at fault in any way."

It looked like Rufus Shinra relaxed a little at that, and he looked grateful.

"We would be willing to suspend your studies if you need some time Yazoo." his tone had softened, "Or you may choose to finish your courses this term by correspondence. If you choose to do so."

"Let me think about it Sir. Thank you."

"I will send a transcription of your lecture today, so you don't miss anything, but it may be best to return to my office with me now. There's an officer who will explain what means you may want to start employing for your safety."

Yazoo nodded, feeling a bit numb as he followed the Dean down the corridor of the school.

* * *

Yazoo arrived home later that evening, still feeling a bit shaken. He'd been given precautions and procedures to follow to keep the Police in contact with him, as well as the assurance that he would be kept informed on their search for Professor Hojo.

Reno was out, and he was almost thankful for that. He needed some time to let everything from today sink in a bit. The last few days had been a little crazy. From the most frightening experience of his life to a giddy, deliriously happy state to this mess of confusion and nerves. It was almost too much to take. Seriously, nothing else should be able to happen, right?

He would have the next few days to decide what he wanted to do with school. The Dean had excused him from classes, and he would be able to keep up with his reading and lectures from the transcripts sent to him, but the Dean really seemed to be trying to alleviate his pressure from exams and papers. Even though Yazoo had told him he wanted to come back to classes, Shinra had insisted he at least take a few days to decide.

Yazoo didn't know if he wanted to just stay here though, like he was locked up and scared. He figured that would be worse than going to classes.

He watched Chicken for a few minutes, the bright orange fish swishing around the bowl in an incomprehensible pattern. Maybe he should get a bigger tank for him...

He was brought out of his thoughts from a knock on the door. He stiffened, feeling vulnerable on his own. He contemplated pretending he wasn't there. But then he'd just end up feeling more like he was locked in. He sighed and pushed himself up, peering through the fish-eye hole in the door. His jaw dropped, and the deadbolt was thrown back.

He opened the door, unable to contain his surprise.

"...Vincent?"

* * *

A/N So, there's been a rather large delay in this story, and I do sincerely apologize to all of those who have read, reviewed and inspired me to keep going. Since my last update, I've gotten engaged, gone back to school, and have found very little time for my passion to write. As things balance out (as they always tend to) I will update when I can, and am so happy to be able to bring back Yazoo, Reno and Chicken. I haven't forgotten them, I promise!

Thanks for the continued support everyone! xoxo

~Kikislasha


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